Android 16 could feature iOS-like notification summaries, but with a catch

Google could drop an iOS-like feature called notification summaries for its users with Android 16. The new capability has been spotted in the latest beta build. But it looks like this addition may debut with certain limitations for phone holders.

Notification Summaries in iOS is an AI-powered tool that compresses many notifications into a single summary for easier reading and understanding at a glance.

The iOS feature eliminates interruptions on the notification panel and eases the management of alerts for users. It is quite significant for alerts from a single app.

Seems like Android 16 will also adopt the “notification summaries” tool for users. But there’s a catch. Unlike the iOS-based capability, the Android feature will only condense conversation notifications and not all app alerts.

Mishaal Rahmaan (via Android Authority) found a few strings that suggest the upcoming software version will bring a notification summaries section. The feature could be available under Settings > Notifications, between the notification history and upcoming notification bundle options.

Android 16 could feature iOS-like notification summaries, but with a catch (Image Credits: AndroidAuthority)

The new notification page will have a single toggle to turn on the feature named “use notification summaries”. Its description says: automatically summarizes conversation notifications from apps.

Simply put, the new addition may only shrink notifications from messaging apps as they are the only ones falling into the “conversation notifications” category.

Instead of contracting all apps’ notifications, the feature will focus on the chat alerts and summarise them for easier management. The capability appears good enough, but whether it will be a useful one for Android users is a mystery.

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