Android 16 DP1: Wi-Fi QR code sharing gets a cute Material You makeover

2 days ago 3

The Wi-Fi QR code sharing menu in Android 16 Developer Preview 1 has received a lick of paint and now has new visuals when connecting other devices.

Ordinarily, when you share a network with another device using the Wi-Fi sharing menu in Android, a regular old QR code appears and speeds up the process of pairing a camera-enabled device. As with everything in Android releases, there is a high possibility or chance that we’ll see more changes introduced as the developer preview and beta phase progresses. Even so, this is a nice touch to add some cohesion to other areas of the system that have been tuned since the introduction of Material You back in Android 12.

The cutesy new QR code follows the shape used for several first-party widgets for Drive, Photos, YouTube Music, and more. As luck would have it, it works with older Android builds and other OSes, so there are no worries about compatibility. QR codes are most reliable when square, but non-standard shapes are mostly fine. Google has clearly tested this thoroughly before pushing out with Android 16 Developer Preview 1.

You’ll also notice that the updated QR code is larger with shapes that adhere to Dynamic Color system theming settings, while the Wi-Fi password text is much bigger and easier to read. It just looks a lot cleaner without the jarring white borders – however this likely helped readability when scanning from another phone, tablet, or laptop.

The updated QR code is also visible when sharing a Wi-Fi hotspot – so not matter which method you use it’ll have the same design.