Google Stadia 2.16 preps 4K/HDR for Android TV, capture link sharing, more

Kyle Bradshaw | May 1 2020 - 1:34 pm PT

Google Stadia has had quite the busy week, between Tuesday’s Stadia Connect event and the launch of new Stadia Pro games for May. Stadia for Android also saw an update to version 2.16 this week, which continues to prep for Android TV, as well as start work on sharing captures and much more.

About APK Insight: In this “APK Insight” post, we’ve decompiled the latest version of an application that Google uploaded to the Play Store. When we decompile these files (called APKs, in the case of Android apps), we’re able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. We’ll try to enable those that are closer to being finished, however, to show you how they’ll look in the case that they do ship. With that in mind, read on.

4K and more on Android TV

Starting on an interesting note, the Google Stadia app has added many new strings referring to 4K, HDR, and 5.1 surround sound toggles. From the phrasing, we think these options have to do with adjusting the streaming quality on your Android device.

That said, considering there aren’t many Android phones that have a 4K-ready display, these settings are likely in preparation for Stadia’s Android TV app. This theory is backed up by strings that mention HDR being unavailable on your “display” or “screen” which would strongly suggest an external display.

As a reminder, strings in the Stadia app typically come in pairs — the text itself and a descriptive guide to help translators when bringing Stadia to other languages.

Title of a modal dialog explaining that 4K option can be enabled

4K resolution available

Message displayed in a modal dialog explaining that 4K option can be enabled by reopening currently playing game

Close and reopen your game for 4K resolution support.

Label for 5.1 surround sound stream capability which can be enabled or disabled during the current game session

5.1 surround sound

Message displayed in a modal dialog explaining that user’s display doesn’t support HDR mode

The screen you’re playing on doesn’t support HDR.

We also find a pair of strings that indicate Google Stadia may make 4K streaming a separate toggle, instead of being tied to your data usage settings.

Title of a modal dialog explaining that 4K option is disabled by user’s Data Saver Mode setting

Change data usage

Message displayed in a modal dialog explaining that 4K option can be enabled by changing data usage settings

Update your data usage setting for 4K resolution support.

Capture link sharing

Just a few days ago, Google enabled the use of the capture button on the Stadia Controller while playing on Android phones. Currently, the only way to share your Stadia screenshot and video captures is to download them and share the files to friends or social media. Apparently, the next step for Stadia is to make captures into a more useful social feature, by adding a share button.

Tooltip shown on the share icon button while viewing a capture, when the capture is not already shared and you are able to share it.

Share capture

Message shown in a snackbar after you press the ‘share’ button while viewing a capture. We create a link to this capture which others can use to view the capture.

Creating a link to share…

Title of the capture sharing dialog, which presents options related to sharing a capture.

Sharing your capture

Body of the capture sharing dialog, which presents options related to sharing a capture. This message describes what it means for the shareable link to be public.

Anyone with this link can see your capture

Once you’ve marked a capture as shared, a new “Share link” button will appear, which will let you immediately copy or share your Stadia capture’s link to friends. Presumably this will all work very similarly to Google Photos’ link sharing options.

Text of a button which will open the OS-level sharing sheet to share this capture’s link.

Share link

Needless to say, this is much easier than manually downloading videos and hoping that whoever you send them to is able to play .webm files.

Text chat

Right now on Stadia, the only way you can talk to your friends is through voice, either in-game or through the party system. With Stadia 2.16, we found a significant number of new references in the code to “chat,” “chat messages,” “conversation,” and “direct messages.”

batchGetChatMessages

ChatMessages

ChatMessagesModel

ConversationViewModel

createChatMessage

DirectChatMessageList

DirectMessageLastReadTimestamps

enableTextChatFlag

For now though, Stadia’s chat features appear to be in a very early state, not something Google would be launching any time too soon.

Achievements list

When playing Stadia on the web or from Chromecast, you can open your profile to see what achievements you’ve unlocked for a particular game and which ones are left to be done. This isn’t currently possible on Stadia for Android, but work has begun on bringing the feature over. Some of the strings are currently blank though, indicating that this is still a work-in-progress.

Text displayed on the achievement details page

Title of a page displaying achievement details

Title of a list that lists the in-game achievements that the player has recently earned.

Text on the dropdown item label that allow user to sort a list of game achievements by game’s default achievement ordering.

Game order

Stadia store improvements

One minor complaint that came up in the last few months is that Stadia Pro discounts are only shown to Stadia Pro members. This is particularly annoying, as sometimes the discounts offered exceed the cost of renewing Stadia Pro for a month. To help players save some money and to further promote Stadia Pro, the Stadia Store will soon show non-Pro members the discounts offered with Pro.

Headline in the Store Details page explaining that the item can be purchased at a discount with a Stadia Pro subscription.

Get a discount with Stadia Pro