Android 16 QPR3 Beta Brings New Pixel Features

Google has released its latest Android 16 QPR3 Beta 1 to Pixel testers, and though the company didn’t provide a full changelog, the build contains quite a few new features worth mentioning. Some early digging uncovers four highlights: a new flashlight intensity slider, a customizable three-button navigation layout, an expandable location indicator, and some smarter wireless ADB behavior for developers. These kinds of QPR tweaks are classic — a little bit less than a full version jump, but noticeable in everyday use.

Flashlight Brightness Controls Arrive on Pixel

No more janky on/off toggle for the flashlight tile in Quick Settings. A long press of it opens a new Flashlight Strength panel with a vertically oriented slider and a visual beam indicator that widens as brightness does. It’s a tiny touch, and exactly the sort of ergonomic control that users have desired for years — especially when reading late at night or during strolls to the kitchen when you don’t want to blind everyone.

Under the hood, this feature leverages features exposed in Android’s camera APIs that report available torch levels and sets them on supported hardware. Because not all devices have the exact same torch steps, the range might be slightly different on your Pixel device. But there’s a practical win here beyond comfort: Less output means lower power draw and less heat, so you can actually go easier on your batteries and LEDs during extended use.

Three-Button Navigation Gets a Flip Option on Pixel

If you still want to rock the good old three-button navigation bar, Android 16 QPR3 Beta 1 finally enables switching Back and Recents buttons. The new Button Order setting resides at Settings > System > Navigation Mode, behind that gear icon next to 3-button navigation. It’s a small change, but one that has been long-requested to widen accessibility and align with what layouts have looked like on other Android phones for quite some time — making it easier for muscle memory to transfer over.

Gesture navigation has been Google’s favorite since Android 10, but many still use the buttons for predictability or motor accessibility reasons. This change recognizes that reality and eliminates an artificial friction point for anybody who’s switching between franchises (among the brands where button order changes).

Location Indicator Will Now Tell You Who Is Using It

The location indicator in the status bar now expands to show you exactly which apps are using your position at that exact moment. Tapping the indicator brings up that trusty old Microphone, Camera & Location dialog, but now instead of just saying it’s enabled you see a list revealing who the suspects or good guys — like your maps app and a weather widget, for example — are, so if anything shows up out of place you can take immediate action.

This extends the privacy chips and dash introduced in prior Android releases, constricting the feedback loop of system telemetry to user action. Privacy researchers have never tired of arguing that you need clear, live visibility for informed consent. Thanks to this tweak, Pixel owners will no longer have to guess which faceless app was pinging their GPS; the answer is literally a glance away.

Trusted Wireless ADB Reconnects on Known Networks

Wireless debugging via Wi‑Fi was a boon for developers and power users, albeit one with a caveat — it would regularly switch itself off if left unused.

In QPR3 Beta 1, Android automatically enables wireless ADB again after reconnecting to a trusted network. That translates to fewer visits to Developer Options, and less breaking of your workflow while you toggle back and forth between the goings-on in your office or home lab.

Concretely: this makes iterative testing with Android Studio smoother, brings logcat sessions to stability, and makes the pairing churn go down. It’s a tiny automation that caters to how modern development is done in reality, especially on teams where you test on something like 7 Pixels across shared environments.

What This Means For The Next Feature Drop

Platform Quarterly Releases are usually the best of refinement and a few quality-of-life improvements ready for wide distribution. That mix of features here — granular hardware control, ergonomic navigation options, privacy transparency, and developer quality-of-life — plays into that trend. The flashlight slider is indicative of a line of hardware-level controls that have been popping up more and more in the UI, and the location indicator serves as a reinforcement to privacy cues that regulators and advocates are becoming more accustomed to demanding.

None of this is flashy on its face, but taken as a whole it suggests a more thoughtful, less guessy Pixel experience that’s friendlier to tinkerers. That dovetails with the brand’s trajectory following the addition of privacy indicators and the extension of Feature Drops.

Eligibility and Important Warnings for Pixel Testers

As a general rule, the QPR beta program encompasses recent Pixel phones (including foldables and tablets) via OTA enrollment. And as ever, beta software might cause instability, poor battery life, or app compatibility issues. Now would be a good time to back up your data, ensure that you have enough free storage for the new update payload, and get ready to provide feedback via normal channels so Google can squash any regressions before the stable push.

Bottom Line: What to Expect from QPR3 Beta 1

Android 16 QPR3 Beta 1 could sound like a grab bag, but it lands as targeted, high-value pain points. With a smarter flashlight, a navigation layout that respects how you use your phone, a clearer location permission process, and wireless ADB — Pixel is your sweetest dream (and downright sensible) mobile device. If you live on the beta channel, they are worth checking out; if stability is what you crave, these refinements will be sure to define the next Pixel update once builds go stable.