Android 16 could trigger Screen Saver based on the device's posture

Since the release of the Android 16 Developer Preview in November 2024, the early adopters have supplied Android fans with looks at varied new features. The Android 16 beta gives us the idea that the mobile OS has a lot to offer, including the likes of an audio-sharing feature to notification cooldown.

Yet, it appears that Google has no plans to stop adding new features. Like, Android 16 might be working on a new way to trigger the screen saver. As of now, Android triggers the screen saver when the device is charging or docked and charging.

Android often relies on the dock information to detect whether the device is docked. For instance, a dock transmits data about its type (car, desk, analog, or digital). Though the table charger activates a screen saver, many charging stands are not considered docks. This might be frustrating for those who want a screen saver when the device is on the stand.

To solve this issue, Google could bring a completely new way of triggering the screen saver, with it utilizing the device's posture. Here the "Postured" state means that the posture of a device is upright and not flat. This resolves the issue as the device will trigger a screen saver when the device is upright and charging.

The posture screen saver setting isn't available yet. Here are the strings from the Android 16 Beta 2 Settings app, spotted by a reliable Android tinkerer, Mishaal Rahman at Android Authority:

string name="screensaver_settings_summary_postured"While postured /string

string name="screensaver_settings_summary_postured_and_charging"While postured and charging /string

Since stands are actively used by Android phones most of the time, this screen-saver trigger might be specifically built for handsets. But it is important to note that the postured screen saver might work on Android tablets as well. Just the docking issues are probably not as frequent in tablets.

Considering the strings were embedded in the Android 16 Beta 2, it is very likely that the feature might be functional in the stable version, dropping sometime in Q2 of 2025.