The video compression standard can deliver video quality similar to or better than the original at lower file sizes, provided the Android device also supports it. Vulkan allows developers to leverage the performance of modern smartphone GPUs to unlock features such as ray tracing in games and multithreading. The app UI should fill the space and respect the device posture on large-screen devices (as this change does not apply to conventional glass-slab smartphones). With Android 17, this change is now mandatory, and developers will no longer be able to opt out.
With Android 17 Beta 2, Google is expanding its SMS OTP protection by automatically delaying access to SMS messages with OTP for apps that aren’t the intended recipient or the default SMS handler app. This feature is designed to offer seamless task continuity, enabling users to pick up exactly where they left off in their workflow across their Android ecosystem. Android 16 QPR1 included code for a new system-level feature called “Task Continuity,” and, as you’d expect, it’s designed to let you seamlessly transfer an app’s current state from one Android device to another. Back in July 2025, we spotted Google working on a Handoff feature that would allow users to sync notifications, share files, and continue apps across their Android devices. Once consent is provided, this session-based access eliminates the need for repeated prompts for location-dependent features. With Android 17 Beta 3, Google is introducing a new location button that apps can use to request the user’s precise location for one session (i.e., until you close the app).

Custom Notification View Restrictions

The dedicated “Screenshot” and “Select” buttons are now also enclosed in pill-shaped containers, creating a more consistent look in the Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1 release. This icon is widely understood to indicate an additional menu, so its presence should help more users realize they can access further actions directly from the recents screen. Now, the Recents screen displays the app’s icon and name, along with a downward-pointing arrow, within a small pill-shaped button overlaid on the task. With Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1, Google made some subtle changes to the Recents screen.

• The redesigned “Noto 3D” emojis on Android are expected to arrive “later this year.” These new emojis will arrive on Pixel devices first and roll out through Gboard, YouTube, and Gmail.
• These changes bring Samsung and potentially some Qualcomm-powered devices closer to competing platforms, such as Apple, whose iPhones have received four to eight years of support.
• Many early Android OS smartphones were equipped with a dedicated search button for quick access to a web search engine and individual apps’ internal search feature.
• With Android 17 Beta 4, Google added small arrow keys to appear when you tap the handle to resize the two windows.
• Research from security company Trend Micro lists premium service abuse as the most common type of Android malware, where text messages are sent from infected phones to premium-rate telephone numbers without the consent or even knowledge of the user.

Additionally, the menu acts as a direct gateway to Google Family Link, allowing quick access to broader controls like School Time, purchase approvals, and location alerts. With Android 17 Beta 4, Google added small arrow keys to appear when you tap the handle to resize the two windows. As you can see in the video above, lock screen widgets on phones work differently from those on tablets. Then, tap the “customize” card to open the widget editor, where you can add, remove, or reorder your widgets.

• With Android 17 Beta 3, widget padding, text size, and layout attributes automatically scale based on the density difference between the app’s original context and the target display.
• When enabled, adjusting the slider dynamically adjusts the brightness of specific elements in an HDR image, such as the sky or water.
• Presuming Google doesn’t change its timelines, we expect stable Android 17 to be released sometime in June 2026.
• With Android 17 Beta 3, the Wi-Fi toggle is also back to being a one-click toggle.
• Previously, you had to implement workarounds, sometimes allocating unnecessary physical streams, to obtain metadata from secondary active cameras (e.g., during a lens switch for zoom where a follower camera is active).
• Local Network Protection will eventually require apps to request specific permission to access the local network.

Android 17: Confirmed features and changes

For example, as Android was developed initially as a phone OS, hardware such as microphones were required, while over time the phone function became optional. Some other hardware was initially required, but those requirements have been relaxed or eliminated altogether. Some hardware components are not required, but became standard in certain classes of devices, such as smartphones, and additional requirements apply if they are present.

Constant Quality for Video Recording

In December 2011, Greg Kroah-Hartman announced the start of Android Mainlining Project, which aims to put some Android drivers, patches and features back into the Linux kernel, starting in Linux 3.3. Project Treble separates the vendor implementation (device-specific, lower-level software written by silicon manufacturers) from the Android OS framework via a new “vendor spinalto casino interface”. In May 2017, with the announcement of Android 8.0, Google introduced Project Treble, a major re-architect of the Android OS framework designed to make it easier, faster, and less costly for manufacturers to update devices to newer versions of Android. As a result, Android 4.2 and 4.3 “Jelly Bean” contained relatively fewer user-facing changes, focusing more on minor changes and platform improvements. With these changes, Google can add new system functions and update apps without having to distribute an upgrade to the operating system itself.

Software similar to Google Play Store 11

Because of this limitation, apps that need this functionality end up baking in a separate mechanism (usually a button or similar entry point outside the Photo picker) to click a new photo. The Android Photo picker lacks a direct shortcut to launch the device’s camera. With Android 17 Beta 3, widget padding, text size, and layout attributes automatically scale based on the density difference between the app’s original context and the target display. This is useful for multitasking scenarios, such as a video conferencing app keeping video call controls accessible while the user navigates other apps. Android 17 Beta 3 introduces a separate Assistant volume slider, allowing you to change the Assistant’s volume independently from the media volume. You can choose to have notifications, ringtones, and alarms play on your connected hearing aid or on your device’s built-in speaker.

Pichai himself would eventually switch positions, becoming the new CEO of Google in August 2015 following the company’s restructure into the Alphabet conglomerate, making Hiroshi Lockheimer the new head of Android. Since 2008, Android has seen numerous updates which have incrementally improved the operating system, adding new features and fixing bugs in previous releases. Speculation about Google’s intention to enter the mobile communications market continued to build through December 2006. Not much was known about the secretive Android Inc. at the time, with the company having provided few details other than that it was making software for mobile phones.

Status bar

In Android 16 Beta 4, there’s evidence that Google is working to add a gesture to turn off the screen with a double-tap on the lock screen, and we managed to activate the gesture for a first look. The redesigned “Noto 3D” emojis on Android are expected to arrive “later this year.” These new emojis will arrive on Pixel devices first and roll out through Gboard, YouTube, and Gmail. We know from strings in Android Canary 2601 release that locked apps will still receive visible notifications, but the notification content will not be visible.
When working with logical cameras that combine multiple physical camera sensors, you can now request additional metadata from all active physical cameras involved in a capture, not just the primary one. Today we’re releasing the first beta of Android 17, continuing our work to build a platform that prioritizes privacy, security, and refined performance. These are all the changes we expect to see in the Android 17 platform update in 2026. Magic Cue had the name in a prominent-looking chip at the bottom of the screen, which users could tap to send. In a Google for Developers session at Google I/O 2026, the company announced that Magic Cue is expanding to more third-party apps, including Snapchat.