Android 17: Everything You Need to Know Features, Release Date, Supported Devices & News

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. One of those components, Google Play Services, is a closed-source system-level process providing APIs for Google services, installed automatically on nearly all devices running Android 2.2 « Froyo » and higher. The Guardian complained that the method of distribution for updates is complicated only because manufacturers and carriers have designed it that way. Android’s source code does not contain the device drivers, often proprietary, that are needed for certain hardware components, and does not contain the source code of Google Play Services, kudosbet which many apps depend on. However, most original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) customize the source code to run on their hardware.
You can now configure it to launch a specific app of your choosing, expanding on the previous options (middle click, launch Google, go home, go back, or view recent apps). Android 16 QPR2 delivers a variety of new features for touchpads and mice, including expanded gesture actions and robust accessibility options. Previously restricted to the Downloads folder, the terminal can now access nearly all shared storage — essentially, any file or folder visible to your standard file manager.
The app will not receive any subsequent updates you make to a contact’s information, further protecting your privacy by preventing apps from tracking changes over time. This feature works only for conversation notifications and can be opted out of, so many apps don’t support it. With the Android 17 Beta 2 release, Google officially announced the EyeDropper API, which allows apps to request a color from any pixel on the display without requiring sensitive screen-capture permissions.

Desktop Mode and related changes

In Android 16 QPR1, this has changed to display the same UI element that you’d see in the notification shade, where you can hang up, toggle the speaker, and mute your microphone. The full Live Updates experience includes Live Updates notifications appearing on the Always On Display, at the top of the notification list on the lock screen, in the Heads-Up display, and as a chip in the Status Bar. These are intended to save developers from having to build a custom solution to display progress in notifications, providing a standard format that is easier to adopt in their apps. The EU fined Google for €4.3 billion (about US$5 billion) and required the company to end this conduct within 90 days.

• This is useful for multitasking scenarios, such as a video conferencing app keeping video call controls accessible while the user navigates other apps.
• In 2015, Ars Technica wrote that « Earlier this week, the last of the Google Play edition Android phones in Google’s online storefront were listed as « no longer available for sale » and that « Now they’re all gone, and it looks a whole lot like the program has wrapped up ».
• Android 17 Beta 3 adds support for Vendor-defined camera extensions, allowing hardware partners to provide Android apps with access to camera features such as ‘Super Resolution’ and cutting-edge AI-driven enhancements.
• Instead of requesting permissions one by one, these apps can use a device profile to show a single, bundled permission prompt.
• These are all the changes we expect to see in the Android 17 platform update in 2026.
• You can see a gray, circular button located after the divider separating pinned and recent apps.

Following news of Google’s monthly schedule, some manufacturers, including Samsung and LG, promised to issue monthly security updates, but, as noted by Jerry Hildenbrand in Android Central in February 2016, « instead we got a few updates on specific versions of a small handful of models. And a bunch of broken promises ». In 2020, David Wang under his company Corellium released Project Sandcastle which made Android run on the iPhone 7. As a result, technical obstacles including locked bootloaders and restricted access to root permissions are common in many devices. Moreover, modified firmware such as CyanogenMod sometimes offer features, such as tethering, for which carriers would otherwise charge a premium. Android’s standard C library, Bionic, was developed by Google specifically for Android, as a derivation of the BSD’s standard C library code. Development of the Linux kernel continues independently of Android’s other source code projects.

• When long-pressing an app icon in the app drawer, you’ll see a “pin to taskbar” shortcut in the context menu, while you’ll see an “unpin from taskbar” shortcut when long-pressing an app icon on the taskbar.
• Due to the lack of Android tablet-specific applications in 2011, early Android tablets had to make do with existing smartphone applications that were ill-suited to larger screen sizes, whereas the dominance of Apple’s iPad was reinforced by the large number of tablet-specific iOS applications.
• To address this, Google added the taskbar overflow button with the release of Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2.
• We’re really looking forward to I/O now, after a rumor allegedly spotted a « Google Home Display » in the company’s code.
• At Google I/O in May 2016, Google announced Daydream, a virtual reality platform that relied on a smartphone and provided VR capabilities through a virtual reality headset and controller designed by Google itself.

Storage

These rumors fold Additional Galaxy Z Fold 8 series rumors alleged missing features, and it looks like you can forget about a Privacy Display. Gone Reports say Meta has axed 8,000 employees this week, and it looks like the company really wants AI by this point. When an app breaches OS-defined memory limits, the anomaly trigger allows developers to receive app-specific heap dumps to help identify and fix memory issues.

Customizable keyboard shortcuts

Updates to the Android Photo picker are handled through Google Play Services, so this change might not be restricted or even tied to Android 17. 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. Android 17 Beta 3 adds support for Vendor-defined camera extensions, allowing hardware partners to provide Android apps with access to camera features such as ‘Super Resolution’ and cutting-edge AI-driven enhancements. 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. Android 17 Beta 3 introduces a separate Assistant volume slider, allowing you to change the Assistant’s volume independently from the media volume.

How do I install the Google Play Store APK on my Android device?

You can choose to have notifications, ringtones, and alarms play on your connected hearing aid or on your device’s built-in speaker. Android 17 Beta 3 lets users independently manage where specific system sounds are played in their hearing device. For example, you’ll be alerted when the clock has changed for daylight saving time. With Android 17 Beta 3, users can now receive alerts when their phone’s clock performs a scheduled change. Now, the Android OS will automatically enter your SIM card PIN when you enter your device’s lock code upon rebooting Once they’ve activated this toggle, they’ll be prompted to enter their SIM card’s current PIN.

Storage

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. As you can see in the video above, lock screen widgets on phones work differently from those on tablets. Instead of presenting every setting in a single vertical list, Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2 separates them by category. Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2 cleans up the Sound & vibration submenu within the Settings app. Once enabled, you won’t see any blur in the Quick Settings panel, the notification shade, the lock screen, the app drawer, or the Recents menu.

This began to change in 2012, with the release of the affordable Nexus 7 and a push by Google for developers to write better tablet applications. Due to the lack of Android tablet-specific applications in 2011, early Android tablets had to make do with existing smartphone applications that were ill-suited to larger screen sizes, whereas the dominance of Apple’s iPad was reinforced by the large number of tablet-specific iOS applications. According to Gartner research company, Android-based devices outsold all contenders, every year since 2012. Research company Canalys estimated in the second quarter of 2009, that Android had a 2.8% share of worldwide smartphone shipments.
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. Shortly afterwards, Google acquired the company in July of that year for at least $50 million; this was Google’s « best deal ever » according to Google’s then-vice president of corporate development, David Lawee, in 2010. Perlman refused a stake in the company, and has stated « I did it because I believed in the thing, and I wanted to help Andy. » Rubin had previously been the creator of the T-Mobile Sidekick under his previous company Danger, Inc. Other Google services including Firebase Cloud Messaging, used for push notifications, are recommended for applications.