On newer Android versions, permissions may need to be granted per app (like Chrome or Files). However, be careful when deleting messaging or social media apps, as it is possible to delete some photos and videos you have saved there if you are not careful. Simply mark the games and apps you want to remove, and with a single tap, they will be deleted from your Android device. From your User Profile, located in the upper right corner of the Google Play interface, you can quickly access a list of the apps you have installed. You will also usually be able to see screenshots, some videos of the app or game, and a detailed description.

Software similar to Google Play Store 11

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.

• The video compression standard can deliver video quality similar to or better than the original at lower file sizes, provided the Android device also supports it.
• Presuming Google doesn’t change its timelines, we expect stable Android 17 to be released sometime in June 2026.
• It’s worth noting that these screen saver features are only new to older models, as they have been available on the Pixel 10 series since launch, complementing the lineup’s Pixelsnap wireless charging accessories.
• Tapping this notification prompts you to open the file in a video player app because Android lacks a native UI for viewing screen recordings.
• Speculation about Google’s intention to enter the mobile communications market continued to build through December 2006.
• When enabled, adjusting the slider dynamically adjusts the brightness of specific elements in an HDR image, such as the sky or water.

Constant Quality for Video Recording

• In 2020, David Wang under his company Corellium released Project Sandcastle which made Android run on the iPhone 7.
• These features are live on Pixel phones running Android 16, but Android OEMs could adopt them as part of the Android 17 platform update.
• This is useful for multitasking scenarios, such as a video conferencing app keeping video call controls accessible while the user navigates other apps.
• 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.
• 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.

Android 16 QPR1 allows users to configure what happens when they tap the touchpad with three fingers. You can see a gray, circular button located after the divider separating pinned and recent apps. To address this, Google added the taskbar overflow button with the release of Android 16 QPR1 Beta 2. When long-pressing an app icon in the app drawer, you’ll see a “pin to taskbar” shortcut in the context menu, while you’ll see an “unpin from taskbar” shortcut when long-pressing an app icon on the taskbar. If you’d like to try the changes ahead of its stable rollout, you can already do so, starting with Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1.

App lists

When you’re creating a home spinalto casino screen, your Pixel will offer to automatically populate it with apps and widgets of a certain type — frequently used, games, social media, and more. In fact, we also see the two options in the Aluminium OS build leak, further adding weight to the theory. In Android 17 QPR1 Beta 3, we managed to enable two new icons/buttons in the screenshot overlay.

Status bar

With Android 17 Beta 4, Google has introduced Background Audio Hardening, placing stricter limits on apps that try to play audio, request audio focus, or change volume while running in the background. Android OS verification will help you confirm that your device is indeed running an official, widely distributed Android build. The company says it developed this feature in response to bad actors releasing modified versions of Android that appear to be the real thing. On supported devices, Google has significantly reduced the number of attempts required to guess a PIN or password. This mainly refers to Remote Lock and Theft Detection Lock features, which will now be enabled by default on all new Android 17 devices, as well as those that are freshly reset or upgraded to Android 17. This ensures a consistent user experience with distinct icons while reusing existing watch role permissions.

With Android 12, Google combined the two toggles into a singular Internet tile. Before Android 12, the OS had separate Quick Settings toggles for Wi-Fi and mobile data. Swiping down from the left side of the inner screen will open up notifications, while swiping down from the right will open Quick Settings. There may be no toggle or setting to switch back to the classic combined notification and Quick Settings panel. With Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1, we also managed to activate its Settings menu entry. With this new gesture, you can double-tap on an empty spot of the lock screen to turn off your Pixel phone’s screen.

Desktop Mode and related changes

Google is preparing to upgrade Android’s UWB stack with features from the FiRa 3.0 core specification. This button is slated to receive “special visual treatment,” possibly indicating a custom animation when it appears or is tapped. In Android 17 Beta 3, if you have a 2×1 Quick Settings tile, tapping the left side (on the Wi-Fi icon itself) toggles Wi-Fi on and off, while tapping the right side (outside the Wi-Fi icon, on the label) opens the pop-up. Previously, tapping the Wi-Fi Quick Settings tile would open a pop-up with options for nearby Wi-Fi networks, a toggle to enable or disable Wi-Fi, and other settings.
The full Live Updates experience includes Live Updates notifications appearing on the Always On Display, at the top of the notification list on the lock screen, in the Heads-Up display, and as a chip in the Status Bar. These are intended to save developers from having to build a custom solution to display progress in notifications, providing a standard format that is easier to adopt in their apps. 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.” Android devices incorporate many optional hardware components, including still or video cameras, GPS, orientation sensors, dedicated gaming controls, accelerometers, gyroscopes, barometers, magnetometers, proximity sensors, pressure sensors, thermometers, and touchscreens.
With Android 16 Beta 3, Google is giving app developers a chance to test if their apps are affected by this upcoming change. Local Network Protection will eventually require apps to request specific permission to access the local network. Later QPR betas give us even more features that can be chalked up to the next platform release, unless they are completely Pixel-exclusive. This gives us situations where we can try out new features coming to Android 17 (by checking them out in Android 16 QPR1 betas) before the stable Android 16 update is even launched! Android 17 will also crack down on apps that try to start audio in the background automatically when your phone boots up. Going forward, apps will need to either be visible on your screen or run a proper foreground service designed for things like music playback, navigation, or calls.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has denounced that the fact that developers will be required to pay a fee and provide government-issued identification will dishearten free and open-source communities, as several of them operate with limited or no funding, and that it further expands Google’s Play Store monopoly over alternative app stores. These changes bring Samsung and potentially some Qualcomm-powered devices closer to competing platforms, such as Apple, whose iPhones have received four to eight years of support. Shortly thereafter, Qualcomm followed suit, offering extending support timelines for OEM building phones with its chipsets, first to seven years in 2024, followed by eight years in 2025.
Fairphone, a company focused on sustainability, explained that its inability to extend software support was due to Qualcomm’s policies rather than its own. To address this concern, Google introduced Project Treble, a framework designed to streamline the development and deployment of Android updates via Google Play Services, reducing manufacturers’ involvement in the update process. Originally only doing so during installation, Verify Apps received an update in 2014 to “constantly” scan apps, and in 2017 the feature was made visible to users through a menu in Settings. It is not possible, for example, to turn off the microphone access of the pre-installed camera app without disabling the camera completely.