Android 16 and 17 Updates May Improve App Experience on Foldable Phones

Google is taking another steps to improve the user experience of apps on foldable phones and tablets with the upcoming releases of Android 16 and Android 17.

These updates aim to address the longstanding issue of app optimization for larger screens, a challenge that has been on UI development since the introduction of Android 3.0 (Honeycomb).

With the introduction of Android 12L, Google started to make Android more compatible with big-screen devices by encouraging developers to optimize their applications. With the new Android update, Android 17 will eliminate the option for developers to restrict their apps to specific orientations or aspect ratios. This means that apps that are not optimized for larger displays will be automatically stretched to fill the screen, thereby requiring them to optimize their designs according to Google’s UI guidelines.

Google has already highlighted the success story of FlipaClip, an animation app that saw a 54% increase in tablet users after it was optimized for larger screens.

Android 16 is set to release in the second quarter of 2025, followed by Android 17 in 2026. Both updates are anticipated to improve app performance in Samsung’s DeX mode, which allows users to operate their devices in a desktop-like experience. As a result, apps designed for large screens will look and function better across various modes, including split-screen multitasking and full-screen usage.