Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1's Bold New Expressive Redesign Brings A Minor Bug Along For The Ride

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Summary

Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1 is now available, offering a significant Material 3 “Expressive” redesign with notable UI changes like a refreshed Quick Settings menu and revamped recent apps.
A minor bug has been discovered where newly installed app icons do not automatically appear on the home screen, though the apps are still accessible in the app drawer.
Despite the small bug, the initial QPR1 Beta 1 is considered a solid update for those interested in experiencing the new visual style, with the expectation of more bugs being found in this early release.

Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1 is out now, making up what will eventually be September’s Pixel Feature Drop.

Unlike the previous beta cycle, QPR1 Beta doesn’t comprise iterative upgrades. Instead, it introduces the coveted Material 3 Expressive redesign — offering a major Android UI refresh.

Since the new beta build was released, we’ve spotted several new UI elements, including a refreshed Quick Settings menu with resizable tiles, more ‘blurry’ background UI elements, a revamped recent apps experience, and new battery and Settings app icons. Overall, QPR1 Beta 1 is a solid update that’s worth trying out if you’ve been captivated by the Expressive redesign’s screenshots and videos going around online.

A word of caution though: Similar to any other beta build, you will encounter bugs with QPR1 Beta 1, and one of them was just spotted in the wild.

Where’s that app I just downloaded?

As highlighted by the folks over at 9to5Google, newly-downloaded apps no longer show up on the home screen on Pixel devices running Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1. We can confirm that to be the case, though it shouldn’t really matter, and in no way does it break any kind of functionality.

The bug simply prevents new app icons from appearing on the home screen. Said apps still appear in the app drawer, and can easily be dragged and dropped to the home screen. We’re sure there are more bugs to be found, but if they’re as insignificant as this one, QPR1 Beta 1 should be smooth sailing for most.