Now we know exactly how Android's upgraded notifications will work with Google Maps

Google's dynamic Live Updates notification class is fully functional in the latest Android 16 QPR1 beta.

Live Updates, for those unaware, is Google's take on Apple's Live Activities. It's a new notification class that gets elevated permissions and, as a result, access to more screen real estate. This includes access to prime areas like your Pixel's status bar, lock screen and even the Always on Display (AOD).

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The notification class is expected to fully go live with the first stable Android 16 quarterly update, which should land sometime in September this year. We already know that Live Updates won't support music/audio apps, but the likes of food delivery, ride-hailing, and navigation apps are all ideal candidates that will offer dynamic lock screen, AOD, and status bar notifications.

We're certain because Google has explicitly stated the aforementioned app categories as prime examples of activities for which Live Updates are intended. To further that point, the tech giant recently released a developer-focused resource (via Mishaal Rahman/Android Authority) — one that provides all the specific technical requirements for Live Updates and how developers can begin leveraging the new notification class.

We're already privy to some of the requirements shared by the tech giant. If notifications want to be elevated to the Live Updates status, they need to:

• Use the Standard/No Style, BigTextStyle, CallStyle, or ProgressStyle template.
• Request the POST_PROMOTED_NOTIFICATIONS permission.
• Call the requestPromotedOngoing API to elevate the notification to a Live Update.
• Be marked as an ongoing activity.
• Include a short summary to be displayed in the status bar chip.

There are other minor requirements, but the aforementioned ones are the primary ones that developers need to follow.

The tech giant also reiterated appropriate uses for Live Updates, alongside a clear example of what the notification class would look like when highlighting Google Maps' turn-by-turn navigation.

Use Live Updates for activities that are ongoing, user-initiated and time sensitive.

• Appropriate uses: Active navigation, ongoing phone calls, active rideshare tracking, and active food delivery tracking.
• Inappropriate uses: Ads, promotions, chat messages, alerts, upcoming calendar events, and quick access to app features.

The tech giant also directed developers to automatically trigger Live Updates for scheduled events (flight, concert, etc.) only when the said event is imminent. Users will then have the option to keep monitoring the event, or get rid of it with an 'Unpin' action within the notification.

"Showing a boarding pass notification is appropriate many hours before a user's flight, but the notification should become a Live Update only when the user has a pressing need, such as when they have arrived at the airport or venue or once boarding has begun," wrote Google. Similarly, if a user swipes away a Live Update, the app should be designed in such a way that it does not resurface it.

Live Updates will land on Wear OS devices sometime next year. Whether they'll have different requirements and/or optimizations for smaller displays remains to be seen.

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