It’s been exactly one month since the last Android 17 beta, and Google is releasing another one right on schedule. Android 17 beta 3 marks the Platform Stability milestone, which means we’re only a few months away from the final release.
The big new feature in Android 17 beta 2 was “Bubbles”—not to be confused with “Bubbles.” Mainly intended for foldables and tablets, it allows you to grab apps out of the taskbar and drop them into a floating window mode. You can put multiple apps in Bubbles and switch between them from the taskbar as well.
Despite the promise that any app that supported multi-window mode would work in Bubbles, the feature never actually arrived in beta 2. Google says this feature is now fully enabled in Android 17 beta 3 and the Android Canary channel. I’m excited to try it out.
Other than Bubbles, there are only a handful of user-facing changes. Widgets are now supported on external displays—this should apply to Desktop Mode (DeX already had it). Sticking with Desktop Mode, apps can request to be “pinned” when windowing, which will make them stay on top. There’s also a new floating toolbar when running a screen recording, and app labels on the home screen can be hidden from the system customization settings.
I recommend reading the full changelog for the developer side of things, but I’ll pull out a few highlights.
- Apps can customize how the photo picker looks when users are selecting media.
- Professional camera apps can now capture 14-bit per pixel RAW images.
- Apps can identify whether a camera is built-in, external, or virtual.
- A new system-rendered location button can be embedded directly into an app and allows users to share their precise location for the current session only.
- The “Show passwords” system setting is being split into sections for touch-based inputs and physical (hardware) keyboard inputs.
Credit: Google
Android 17 beta 3 is available for all Pixel generations from the Pixel 6 through Pixel 10, including the Fold and A series. Enroll in the official Android beta program now, and you’ll get the update as an OTA on your phone.
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