Android 17 launches with new multitasking tools as Google expands Gemini features

Google on Tuesday released the final version of its Android 17 operating system, as well as its counterpart for smartwatches, Wear OS 7. The latest release, which arrives first on its own Pixel devices, is also accompanied by a Pixel Drop, bringing new features that include support for the latest AI models, like the music-generation model Lyria 3, the multimodal Gemini Omni, and speech-to-translation tools for the Pixel 10a with AudioLM.

The latest feature release underscores Google’s strategy of using its Android and Pixel devices to showcase its latest AI technology. While its rival Apple is focused on catching up in AI with September’s public launch of AI upgrades to Siri and iOS 27, Google’s Android 17 is focused on its newest AI models, Gemini’s role in creation, communication, and other device experiences.

In today’s Pixel Drop, Android Quick Share’s file-sharing feature will become compatible with Apple’s AirDrop on older Pixel 8a and 9a devices. Plus, Gemini Omni will now let you edit videos in a conversation, while Lyria 3 lets users create music tracks with text prompts and/or images in the Gemini app. Pixel 10a devices will also get better speech-to-speech translation tools with AudioLM.

Other phone features are arriving, too, such as the ability to record a personalized outgoing audio message for callers when you can’t answer. Plus, the “Take a Message” feature will arrive in more global markets.

The Pixel Drop brings emergency detection features to the Google Pixel Watch as well, meaning that if the watch detects a car crash, fall, or lack of pulse, it will automatically contact emergency services and your selected emergency contacts.

Beyond AI, Android 17’s larger update allows users to take advantage of features like a “bubble bar,” which is a new user interface element that lets you organize, move, and then quickly access recent apps that appear as bubbles at the bottom of your screen. The feature is designed to help speed up app interactions and aid in multi-app workflows.

Social media users may like Android 17’s new feature that lets them record themselves with the selfie camera and phone screen simultaneously for screen reaction videos that can be shared on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and others.

Parental controls and security features were also improved in this latest release, adding a “Mark as Lost” feature in Find Hub, Live Threat Detection, and other threat defenses, alongside screen time limits and content-filtering tools that can now be set with a PIN without linking a Google account.

A new foldable gaming mode offers a 50/50 layout with a dynamic game pad.

Meanwhile, watch owners can now receive live updates from phone apps that mirror to the Pixel Watch. Smartwatches will also work better with Google’s upcoming AI glasses and other hardware, such as headphones.

This summer, Wear OS will introduce more Gemini Intelligence features, like tools for making personalized widgets just by describing them, and it will be able to offer “Personal Intelligence” by connecting your Google apps and chat history with Gemini.

Battery life improvements — up to 10%, Google claims — as well as multistep automation will also arrive in the new Wear OS.