Android 16 is shaping up to give the operating system a whole new look, but its latest beta has added a couple of features that expand usability, too. These include the return of lock screen widgets on phones, which became a tablet only feature in recent years, and enhanced security. Visual flare isn't being totally ignored, though, since there's also a big focus on dark mode.Android 16’s next stable release will be out in December, but users on the Android beta channel can start testing the new features right away, with the QPR2 Beta 1 release. QPR stands for Android’s Quarterly Platform Release schedule, so this is the first beta for the second QPR cycle.The Android 16 Beta is available for eligible Pixel devices, and anyone can sign up here. Note that our typical warnings about beta instability apply.Lock Screen widgets are now live Credit: Khamosh Pathak Go into Settings > Display & Touch, and you’ll find the new Widget on Lock Screen page. Finally, your phone can once again get fully usable, tappable widgets with all sorts of information on them, even if you haven't unlocked it.After enabling the new feature, you can also customize the When to automatically show setting to control when the widgets show up on their own (you can set them to only display when charging, for instance). If you want to get to your widgets manually, all you have to do is to swipe inward from the right-edge of your lock screen. You can have multiple pages of widgets, with up to three full-sized widgets per screen. Press and hold the widget area and unlock your phone to start customizing and adding more widgets.Force apps (and app icons) into dark mode Credit: Khamosh Pathak Google is adding a new option called Expanded to Android's Dark theme (you’ll find it under Settings > Display & Touch > Dark theme).Once enabled, Android "automatically applies Dark theme to more apps for improved accessibility." This can be helpful for users with low vision or photosensitivity, and also for people who just prefer a dark mode. Essentially, it'll force dark mode into apps where it wasn't available, or wasn't particularly useful, before.Google is doing some under-the-hood magic to make apps work with the new mode, using automatic color inversion. According to Google's Developer page, Android will use an app's "isLightTheme" attribute to figure out if it should apply the inversion or not. A_Button117 via Android Authority Credit: Android Authority Similarly, Google will also be expanding tinting for app icons. On iOS, Apple uses its own engine to tint app icons, allowing users to override developers' own default icons. Android will now start to do something similar. Until now, Android’s theming engine only worked if a developer had provided a monochrome version of their app's icon. Now, Android will automatically covert app icons into monochrome, and set them to match your theme, whether it's, for instance, "Dark" or "Minimal." When using the Minimal theme, you can also set your icons to a custom color, under Wallpaper and Style > Color.Android’s Identity Check feature gets even tougherAndroid’s Identity Check feature helps secure your phone even if someone steals your PIN. When enabled, it forces a biometric scan (of your fingerprint or face) on top of your PIN or passcode when performing system level tasks. Now, Google is expanding Identity Check scans to all places where Fingerprint and Face Unlock are supported, even including apps. The impact of this change will vary depending on the apps you use, since not all apps use biometrics for authentication. If an app only locks itself behind a PIN or passcode, you won't notice a difference. But if it can use biometric authentication, Identity Check will force it to. It might sound like a pain, but if you use sensitive apps like password managers a lot, it's worth considering. Check out our Identity Check guide for more info.Other notable updatesThe latest Android beta update also has a few smaller changes. Here are some of my favorites:SDR/HDR brightness slider: In the Display & Touch section in settings, you’ll now see an Enhanced HDR brightness slider that can help you control the perceived brightness of HDR content. You can use it to keep HDR content from getting too bright.90:10 split screen ratio: If you really want to, you can now have one app take up just 10% of the screen, while another takes up 90%.Run full Linux desktop apps: Google is adding Display support to its Linux app feature, which means you’ll be able to run, and see, fully-fledged Linux apps on your Pixel smartphone. This requires a bit of setup first.