Android Developers Blog: The Fourth Beta of Android 17

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.

• 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, which many apps depend on.
• Instead of presenting every setting in a single vertical list, Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2 separates them by category.
• 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.
• In June 2014, Google announced Android One, a set of “hardware reference models” that would “allow device makers to easily create high-quality phones at low costs”, designed for consumers in developing countries.
• Android 16 QPR2 introduces a built-in Parental Controls menu that provides a centralized location for managing device-specific restrictions.
• A hacker could easily use the “Android system permissions” to fetch the account credentials in order to do so.

Navigation buttons

Google promised to work with developers and create exceptions if their apps require phone or SMS permissions for core functionality. The issue stems from the fact that many apps request permissions to access users’ personal information, even if this information is not needed for the app to function, and some users unquestionably grant these permissions. In September 2014, Jason Nova of Android Authority reported on a study by the German security company Fraunhofer AISEC in antivirus software and malware threats on Android. The new permissions model is used only by applications developed for Marshmallow using its software development kit (SDK), and older apps will continue to use the previous all-or-nothing approach.

Less intrusive phone call notifications

It is a new operating system developed by Google, designed for virtual reality and augmented reality devices, such as VR headsets and smart glasses. Under such sanctions Huawei has long-term plans to replace Android in 2022 with the new operating system, as Harmony OS was originally designed for internet of things devices, rather than for smartphones and tablets. Google introduced the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones in October 2016, marketed as being the first phones made by Google, and exclusively featured certain software features, such as the Google Assistant, before wider rollout.
To try it out, open the Terminal app and tap the Display button in the top-right corner to launch a session that supports graphical output. This Time zone change notification went live in the July 2025 Android Canary release and was graduated to the stable release with Android 16 QPR2 stable release. The notification’s title will say “Your time zone changed,” and the body will include the exact time zone you’re now in. The description states that the feature will allow you to “receive a notification when your time zone is automatically updated.” Your Android phone can automatically adjust the time when you enter a new time zone. A new toggle in Android 16 QPR2 allows you to disable Failed Authentication Lock.
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, which many apps depend on. However, most original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) customize the source code to run on their hardware.

Android 17: Confirmed features and changes

With the advent of the Google Pixel line of devices, Google itself has also made specific Android features timed or permanent exclusives to the Pixel series. 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. With Treble, the new stable vendor interface provides access to the hardware-specific parts of Android, enabling device makers to deliver new Android releases simply by updating the Android OS framework, “without any additional work required from the silicon manufacturers.”
The most visible change to the screen recorder is the replacement of the pop-up dialog with a new toolbar. Code for the mentioned changes is present since Android 16 QPR2 Beta 3, while Android 17 Beta 3 confirmed most of these changes (but not all). 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.

• Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1 introduced subtle background blur (as mentioned above) to specific parts of the Android UI, namely the notification shade, Quick Settings panel, and Recents screen.
• 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.
• Depending on device, its long press may simulate a menu button press or engage split screen view, the latter of which is the default behaviour since stock Android version 7.
• The most visible change to the screen recorder is the replacement of the pop-up dialog with a new toolbar.
• Some other hardware was initially required, but those requirements have been relaxed or eliminated altogether.
• However, most original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) customize the source code to run on their hardware.
• Since 2008, Android has seen numerous updates which have incrementally improved the operating system, adding new features and fixing bugs in previous releases.