Google has announced a broad set of updates for Android 17, the newest version of its mobile operating system. Announced at the Android Show on May 12, ahead of the I/O developer conference next week, here are the confirmed highlights.
Screen Reactions lets users simultaneously record their front camera and screen, making it easy to overlay genuine reactions onto clips or comment sections without third-party apps. The feature arrives first on Pixel devices this summer.
Google and Meta have partnered to integrate Ultra HDR capture, video stabilisation, and Night Sight directly into Instagram. The capture pipeline is optimised so that uploaded video from Android flagships scores equal to or better than the leading competitor, according to side-by-side tests. Instagram is also now fully optimised for tablets.
Instagram’s Edits app on Android gains Smart Enhance, which upscales photos and videos with a single tap, and Sound Separation, which isolates a chosen audio track while removing background wind, noise, or music.
Adobe Premiere is coming to Android with exclusive YouTube Shorts templates. For pro-level capture, the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec, co-developed with Samsung, is already on the Galaxy S26 Ultra and Vivo X300 Ultra, offering storage-efficient high quality.
The digital wellbeing tool triggers a 10-second pause when a user opens an app marked distracting. During the pause, a breathing exercise, timer, or alternative app suggestions appear. The feature can only be turned off by restarting the device.
Quick Share now works with AirDrop on Pixel and will expand to Samsung, OPPO, OnePlus, Xiaomi, and others. A QR code mode enables cloud sharing with iOS. Separately, switching from iPhone is now wireless: passwords, photos, messages, contacts, apps, home screen layout, and eSIM can transfer, arriving first on Galaxy and Pixel.
A new on-device AI suite arrives first on the latest Galaxy and Pixel phones this summer, expanding later to watches, cars, glasses, and laptops. Key abilities include multi-step task automation across apps, Gemini in Chrome for research and appointment booking, intelligent autofill with opt-in personal data, Rambler dictation that removes filler words and works multilingually, and Create My Widget, which builds custom homescreen widgets from natural language descriptions. The suite also brings a refined Material 3 Expressive design.
These features will begin rolling out with the Android 17 update in the coming months, starting on Pixel and select Samsung Galaxy devices.
