This change to Android notifications might not be popular with everyone

As initially reported by Mishaal Rahman on Android Authority, Google is planning a major overhaul to the Notification Shade and Quick Settings for Android 16. Should this alteration come to fruition, it will change how users access both features on Android devices. Given these features haven’t had any major design changes since 2021, it should be no surprise if Google has decided to modify both.

If you swipe down once from the top of the Android display, the Notification Shade appears. Swipe down a second time and you’re given access to the Quick Settings tiles. However, users will notice some differences if the reported changes make it to the final release.

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Accessing the Notification Shade will remain the same, with a single swipe down from the top of the display. The only change you’ll see is that the shade doesn’t take up the entire screen. Instead, the Notification Shade will only take up one-quarter of the display.

As for Quick Settings, accessing that feature will require a two-finger swipe down from the top of the screen. When you open the Quick Settings panel, it will replace the Notification Shade.

I welcome this change because I don’t use the Quick Settings tiles as often as I should. However, I depend on the Notification Shade and would rather have two separate features. 

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If you pull down the Notification Shade, the Quick Settings tiles peak out. Pull the Notification Shade down too far (possibly to read as many notifications as possible) and you can accidentally bring down the Quick Settings tiles. The notifications are replaced and you then have to pull down the Notification Shade more carefully.

The potential for errors has bothered me for some time and I’m glad Google has finally decided to do something about the approach.

But will everyone else appreciate this change? Probably not. At first, the change will be frustrating for people who regularly use Quick Settings tiles. Once the new gesture becomes muscle memory, I think Android users will welcome the change. 

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Another benefit of this change is that you’ll still be able to see part of the app you were using below the Notification Shade. That may not be a big deal to some but I’m sure there will be people who appreciate the new aesthetic.

Will this shift happen with Android 16? If I had to guess, I think it will, but there will probably be a way to opt back to the original behavior — at least initially.

One question I have is where the gear icon for the Settings app will live. As of now, that icon is accessed by pulling down the Notification Shade twice. If the images on Android Authority are correct, that behavior will require opening the Quick Settings tile shade with a two-finger swipe down. I’m okay with that approach, but other people will have to get used to the change.

As for when Android 16 will be released, I guess that it won’t arrive until early 2025, which is a change from Google’s regular schedule of releasing a new OS in the fall.