Posted by Roxanna Aliabadi Walker, Product Manager and Yacine Rezgui, Developer Relations Engineer

Get ready to enhance your app's user experience with an exciting new way to use the Android photo picker! The new embedded photo picker offers a seamless and privacy-focused way for users to select photos and videos, right within your app's interface. Now your app can get all the same benefits available with the photo picker, including access to cloud content, integrated directly into your app's experience.

We understand that many apps want to provide a highly integrated and seamless experience for users when selecting photos or videos. The embedded photo picker is designed to do just that, allowing users to quickly access their recent photos without ever leaving your app. They can also explore their full library in their preferred cloud media provider (e.g., Google Photos), including favorites, albums and search functionality. This eliminates the need for users to switch between apps or worry about whether the photo they want is stored locally or in the cloud.

Seamless integration, enhanced privacy

The embedded photo picker in Google Messages

• Intuitive placement: The photo picker sits right below the camera button, giving users a clear choice between capturing a new photo or selecting an existing one.
• Dynamic preview: Immediately after a user taps a photo, they see a large preview, making it easy to confirm their selection. If they deselect the photo, the preview disappears, keeping the experience clean and uncluttered.
• Expand for more content: The initial view is simplified, offering easy access to recent photos. However, users can easily expand the photo picker to browse and choose from all photos and videos in their library, including cloud content from Google Photos.
• Respecting user choices: The embedded photo picker only grants access to the specific photos or videos the user selects, meaning they can stop requesting the photo and video permissions altogether. This also saves the Messages from needing to handle situations where users only grant limited access to photos and videos.

Implementation

implementation("androidx.photopicker:photopicker-compose:1.0.0-alpha01")

@Composable
fun EmbeddedPhotoPickerDemo() {
    // We keep track of the list of selected attachments
    var attachments by remember { mutableStateOf(emptyList<Uri>()) }

    val coroutineScope = rememberCoroutineScope()
    // We hide the bottom sheet by default but we show it when the user clicks on the button
    val scaffoldState = rememberBottomSheetScaffoldState(
        bottomSheetState = rememberStandardBottomSheetState(
            initialValue = SheetValue.Hidden,
            skipHiddenState = false
        )
    )

    // Customize the embedded photo picker
    val photoPickerInfo = EmbeddedPhotoPickerFeatureInfo
        .Builder()
        // Set limit the selection to 5 items
        .setMaxSelectionLimit(5)
        // Order the items selection (each item will have an index visible in the photo picker)
        .setOrderedSelection(true)
        // Set the accent color (red in this case, otherwise it follows the device's accent color)
        .setAccentColor(0xFF0000)
        .build()

    // The embedded photo picker state will be stored in this variable
    val photoPickerState = rememberEmbeddedPhotoPickerState(
        onSelectionComplete = {
            coroutineScope.launch {
                // Hide the bottom sheet once the user has clicked on the done button inside the picker
                scaffoldState.bottomSheetState.hide()
            }
        },
        onUriPermissionGranted = {
            // We update our list of attachments with the new Uris granted
            attachments += it
        },
        onUriPermissionRevoked = {
            // We update our list of attachments with the Uris revoked
            attachments -= it
        }
    )

       SideEffect {
        val isExpanded = scaffoldState.bottomSheetState.targetValue == SheetValue.Expanded

        // We show/hide the embedded photo picker to match the bottom sheet state
        photoPickerState.setCurrentExpanded(isExpanded)
    }

    BottomSheetScaffold(
        topBar = {
            TopAppBar(title = { Text("Embedded Photo Picker demo") })
        },
        scaffoldState = scaffoldState,
        sheetPeekHeight = if (scaffoldState.bottomSheetState.isVisible) 400.dp else 0.dp,
        sheetContent = {
            Column(Modifier.fillMaxWidth()) {
                // We render the embedded photo picker inside the bottom sheet
                EmbeddedPhotoPicker(
                    state = photoPickerState,
                    embeddedPhotoPickerFeatureInfo = photoPickerInfo
                )
            }
        }
    ) { innerPadding ->
        Column(Modifier.padding(innerPadding).fillMaxSize().padding(horizontal = 16.dp)) {
            Button(onClick = {
                coroutineScope.launch {
                    // We expand the bottom sheet, which will trigger the embedded picker to be shown
                    scaffoldState.bottomSheetState.partialExpand()
                }
            }) {
                Text("Open photo picker")
            }
            LazyVerticalGrid(columns = GridCells.Adaptive(minSize = 64.dp)) {
                // We render the image using the Coil library
                itemsIndexed(attachments) { index, uri ->
                    AsyncImage(
                        model = uri,
                        contentDescription = "Image ${index + 1}",
                        contentScale = ContentScale.Crop,
                        modifier = Modifier.clickable {
                            coroutineScope.launch {
                                // When the user clicks on the media from the app's UI, we deselect it
                                // from the embedded photo picker by calling the method deselectUri
                                photoPickerState.deselectUri(uri)
                            }
                        }
                    )
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Views

implementation("androidx.photopicker:photopicker:1.0.0-alpha01")

<view class="androidx.photopicker.EmbeddedPhotoPickerView"
    android:id="@+id/photopicker"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent" />

// We keep track of the list of selected attachments
private val _attachments = MutableStateFlow(emptyList<Uri>())
val attachments = _attachments.asStateFlow()

private lateinit var picker: EmbeddedPhotoPickerView
private var openSession: EmbeddedPhotoPickerSession? = null

val pickerListener = object EmbeddedPhotoPickerStateChangeListener {
    override fun onSessionOpened (newSession: EmbeddedPhotoPickerSession) {
        openSession = newSession
    }

    override fun onSessionError (throwable: Throwable) {}

    override fun onUriPermissionGranted(uris: List<Uri>) {
        _attachments += uris
    }

    override fun onUriPermissionRevoked (uris: List<Uri>) {
        _attachments -= uris
    }

    override fun onSelectionComplete() {
        // Hide the embedded photo picker as the user is done with the photo/video selection
    }
}

override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
    setContentView(R.layout.main_view)
    
    //
    // Add the embedded photo picker to a bottom sheet to allow the dragging to display the full photo library
    //

    picker = findViewById(R.id.photopicker)
    picker.addEmbeddedPhotoPickerStateChangeListener(pickerListener)
    picker.setEmbeddedPhotoPickerFeatureInfo(
        // Set a custom accent color
        EmbeddedPhotoPickerFeatureInfo.Builder().setAccentColor(0xFF0000).build()
    )
}

// Notify the embedded picker of a configuration change
openSession.notifyConfigurationChanged(newConfig)

// Update the embedded picker to expand following a user interaction
openSession.notifyPhotoPickerExpanded(/* expanded: */ true)

// Resize the embedded picker
openSession.notifyResized(/* width: */ 512, /* height: */ 256)

// Show/hide the embedded picker (after a form has been submitted)
openSession.notifyVisibilityChanged(/* visible: */ false)

// Remove unselected media from the embedded picker after they have been
// unselected from the host app's UI
openSession.requestRevokeUriPermission(removedUris)

27 Jan 2026 5:00pm GMT

Posted by Prateek Batra, Developer Relations Engineer, Android Adaptive Apps

val sizeClass = currentWindowAdaptiveInfo().windowSizeClass

if(sizeClass.isWidthAtLeastBreakpoint(WIDTH_DP_EXPANDED_LOWER_BOUND)) {
    showExpandedLayout()
} else if(sizeClass.isHeightAtLeastBreakpoint(WIDTH_DP_MEDIUM_LOWER_BOUND)) {
    showMediumLayout()
} else {
    showCompactLayout()
}

val isTabletTop = currentWindowAdaptiveInfo().windowPosture.isTabletop
if(isTabletopMode) {
   Column {
       Player(Modifier.weight(1f))
       Controls(Modifier.weight(1f))
   }
} else {
   usualPlayerLayout()
}

27 Jan 2026 3:30am GMT

Supporting Longevity through Faster Diagnostics

Posted by Rachel S, Android Product Manager

Trade-in mode: faster assessment of a factory-reset phone or tablet, bypassing setup wizard, a new feature on Android 16 and above.

Supporting device longevity

Android is committed to making devices last longer. With device longevity comes device circularity: phones and tablets traded-in and resold. GSMA reported that secondhand phones have around 80-90% lower carbon emissions than new phones. The secondhand device market has grown substantially both in volume and value, a trend projected to continue.

Android 16 and above offers an easy way to access device information on any factory reset phone or tablet via the new tradeinmode parameter, accessed via adb commands. This means you can view quality indicators of a phone or tablet, skipping each setup wizard step. Simply connect a phone or tablet with adb, and use tradeinmode commands to get information about the device.

Trade-in mode: What took minutes, now takes seconds

Faster trade-in processing - By bypassing setup wizard, trade-in mode improves device trade ins. The mode enables immediate access to understand the 'health' of a device, helping everyone along the secondhand value chain check the quality of devices that are wiped. We've already seen significant increases in processing secondhand Android devices!

Secure evaluation - To ensure the device information is only accessed in secure situations, the device must 1) be factory reset, 2) not have cellular service, 3) not have connectivity or a connected account, and 4) be running a non-debuggable build.

Get device health information with one command - You can view all the below device information with adb command from your workstation adb shell tradeinmode getstatus, skipping setup wizard:

• Device information

• • Device IMEI(s)

  • Device serial number

  • Brand

  • Model

  • Manufacturer

  • Device model, e.g., Pixel 9

  • Device brand, e.g., Google

  • Device manufacturer, e.g., Google

  • Device name, e.g., tokay

  • API level to ensure correct OS version, e.g., launch_level : 34

• Battery heath

• • Cycle count

  • Health

  • State, e.g., unknown, good, overheat, dead, over_voltage, unspecified_failure, cold, fair, not_available, inconsistent

  • Battery manufacturing date

  • Date first used

  • Serial number (to help provide indication of genuine parts, if OEM supported)

  • Part status, e.g., replaced, original, unsupported

• Storage

• • Useful lifetime remaining

  • Total capacity

• Screen Part status, e.g., replaced, original, unsupported

• Foldables (number of times devices has been folded and total fold lifespan)

• Moisture intrusion

• UICCS information i.e., Indication if there is an e-SIM or removable SIM and the microchip ID for the SIM slot

• Camera count and location, e.g., 3 cameras on front and 2 on back

• Lock detection for select device locks

• And the list keeps growing! Stay up to date here.

26 Jan 2026 5:00pm GMT