Android 16 QPR3 will tell you if apps use your location

The next Android 16 update could make apps more transparent about location tracking, giving users more insight into their privacy.

The feature showed up in the beta for Android 16 QPR3 (QPR meaning quarterly platform release), set to launch early next year. According to 9to5google, the beta adds a blue dot with a map icon next to the battery meter on the upper side of the display, which will only appear if an app is actively tracking your location for any reason. You can tap the dot in the notifications view to see which app (or apps) is tracking you. At that point, users can close the app or update their location settings.

This new Android privacy feature builds on something Google added years ago, which was a green dot with a camera icon in the same place that revealed when an app was using your camera or microphone. When apps are tracking both your location and accessing your camera, these two dots will be combined to show both the camera and map icons, according to screenshots shared by 9to5google.

It should be noted that this tool is only available in beta for Pixel devices right now, but presumably it will come to other Android phones at a later date, like the green camera dot did previously.

At any rate, it's nice to get a software update that's just objectively helpful.