Google has launched the stable final version of Android 17, which began rolling out Monday night to Pixel 6 devices and newer. The company says the update improves user experience, performance and, above all, data security. It is currently available only on Google devices, but Xiaomi, OnePlus and Samsung are expected to adopt it in the coming months.
The biggest security change is an upgraded Find Hub feature called "mark as lost," which can now lock a stolen phone remotely using biometric verification. That means a thief who has the PIN still cannot access stored data or disable tracking without a fingerprint or face scan. Google also reduced the number of allowed code-entry attempts and increased the waiting time between them to make brute-force attacks harder.
Android 17 also expands the Bubbles feature to all apps. A long press on an app icon can turn it into a small floating window that stays above other apps. On larger screens, including tablets and foldables, Google added a Bubble Bar at the bottom of the display for faster switching, resizing and managing multiple tasks at once.
For foldables and gamers, Google introduced a new 50/50 game layout, with the game on the top half and a dynamic virtual controller on the bottom half. It also added built-in support for remapping external controllers and improved RAM management, which should reduce frame drops and stuttering while helping battery life. Separately, Google is rolling out Pixel AI updates, including Gemini Omni for text-to-video generation, Lyria 3 for text-to-music creation, and Screen Reactions, which records the screen while capturing selfie video for reaction clips and tutorials.
