Android 16 QPR1 volume slider redesign adds mini waveform, media player tweaks

Abner Li | May 21 2025 - 5:15 am PT

With Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1, Google has redesigned the volume slider and panel, while the media player sees small tweaks.

What appears when you physically adjust the volume is still housed in a pill-shaped container, but the slider is now more rectangular with a Material 3 handle. When tapping the top button for vibrate, mute, or all, your current selection is still placed in a circle, but the other two are now squares.

If audio is playing, an animated waveform now appears at the bottom of the slider. Otherwise, it’s a three-dot icon.

The full volume panel in Android 16 QPR1 features the updated sliders, which are thinner than what came before.

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Google has yet to update the Settings app > Sound & vibration with the new sliders as of Beta 1, though everything else about this page fits the new preferences style.

The media player is mostly unchanged save for the play button no longer being a circle, while pause is a rounded rectangle. There’s still the lava lamp effect and radiating wave when you tap the play/pause button.

Google has tweaked the Output Switcher so that “Connect Device” is a much smaller button, while the new sliders are also leveraged.

Old vs. new

In other audio related changes, we’re seeing “Audio sharing” in Settings > Connection preferences on a Pixel 9. It appeared and was then pulled during the Android 16 Developer Preview.