Every Android 17 feature coming to your phone in 2026

Android 17, codenamed Cinnamon Bun, is the biggest Android update in years. Google previewed it at The Android Show on May 12, 2026, and the stable version is expected to start rolling out to Pixel devices in June or July 2026. Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi, and other brands will follow later in 2026.

Ten Android 17 features coming to your phone

But here’s what you need to know before getting excited: getting Android 17 on your phone doesn’t automatically mean you’ll get all its best features.

Gemini Intelligence, the headline AI upgrade, is locked to 2026 flagship devices with 12GB or more of RAM. The Pixel 9, a 2025 flagship, does not qualify. Neither do most mid-range phones. So what you actually get depends heavily on which device you own.

Here is a full breakdown of every major Android 17 feature, what it does, and which devices get it.

The most visible change in Android 17 is a new design language called Material 3 Expressive. The biggest shift is a frosted glass effect across the entire system. When you press the volume button, the slider becomes translucent so your wallpaper shows through. The same treatment applies to the power menu, Quick Settings panel, notification shade, home screen folders, and the widget picker. Google internally calls this effect “blur” and it is tinted by your phone’s Dynamic Color theme so everything feels consistent.

A color picker with four presets is also in the works, according to a 9to5Google report from May 12, 2026. The options are Neutral (gray tones), Soft (subtle colors), Bright (more vibrant), and Bold (a mix of colors throughout), plus a slider to set any accent color independent of your wallpaper. These are not confirmed for the first stable Android 17 release and are likely coming in a later quarterly update.

Android 17’s frosted glass look has also drawn comparisons to Apple’s iOS 26 Liquid Glass design. Google’s Android ecosystem president Sameer Samat pushed back on this, writing on X on May 5, 2026 in reply to a mockup imagining Liquid Glass on a Pixel 11: “Not happening! Y’all are wild.” Reviewers at 9to5Google and How-To Geek agree Android’s implementation is more restrained than Apple’s, but the visual parallels are there.

Who gets this with Android 17: Pixel phones (Pixel 6 and newer) already got Material 3 Expressive via the Android 16 QPR1 update in September 2025. Android 17 is what carries the full design to Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi, and every other Android brand.

Gemini Intelligence is Google’s biggest Android 17 announcement. It is an AI layer built into the operating system that can handle multi-step tasks in the background while you use your phone for something else. Google is framing this as Android evolving from an operating system into an intelligence system.

It is not a new app. It runs underneath the OS and brings several features together:

Hardware requirements: To use Gemini Intelligence, your phone needs Gemini Nano v3 or newer, a flagship-grade processor, and at least 12GB of RAM. This is more demanding than Apple Intelligence, which requires 8GB.

Phones that qualify at launch include the Pixel 10 series (not the 10a), the Samsung Galaxy S26 series, the Galaxy Z Fold 8, and the Galaxy Z Flip 8. Phones that get Android 17 but do NOT get Gemini Intelligence include the entire Pixel 9 family, the Pixel 6, 7, and 8 series, the Pixel 9a and 10a, the Samsung Galaxy S25 line, and the Galaxy Z Fold 7.

The Pixel 9 Pro has 16GB of RAM and still does not qualify because it runs Gemini Nano v2, not v3. Google has not said whether this is a permanent hardware limitation or something that could change with a future update.

Honest caveat: Google has made big AI promises before that took a long time to feel useful in daily use. Gemini Intelligence looks impressive in demos, but the real test comes after the summer 2026 rollout, when people are using it on their actual phones.

Android 17 brings a full desktop experience when you connect your phone to an external display. Think of it as Samsung DeX, built into Android itself on every compatible phone.

vs. Samsung DeX: Samsung has offered a similar experience for years. Google’s version is built at the platform level, which means developers can support it across all Android phones rather than just Samsung devices. In practice, that advantage only matters once OEMs consistently expose it.

Who gets this with Android 17: Pixel phones got a stable version of Desktop Mode with the March 2026 update (Android 16 QPR3). Other Android brands get it when Android 17 rolls out to their devices.

Live Updates are real-time notifications that stay visible across your status bar, lock screen, and Always-On Display. Instead of a static notification badge, you see a small chip in your status bar that updates as things progress, like your food delivery moving closer or your ride arriving.

Google I/O 2026 introduced a new Metric Style template that extends Live Updates beyond delivery and ride-share apps. It supports up to three data points at once, making it useful for health and fitness apps, countdown timers, and travel tracking. For example, a workout app could show your heart rate, pace, and distance simultaneously on your lock screen.

Status note: There is a conflict in the sources on timing. Digital Trends reported that Metric Style arrived in Android 17 QPR1 Beta 3, while Android Authority noted that Google has not confirmed whether it will ship in the first stable Android 17 release or a later quarterly update.

Who gets this with Android 17: Pixel phones already have the full Live Updates experience via Android 16 QPR1 (September 2025). Samsung, OnePlus, Vivo, Xiaomi, and other brands get it when Android 17 reaches their devices.

Android’s Quick Share can now send files directly to iPhones, and it works two ways depending on your device.

Direct AirDrop interoperability is available on supported phones. Your iPhone appears in the Quick Share list just like any other Android device. The iPhone owner needs to set AirDrop to “Everyone for 10 Minutes,” and both devices need to be near each other with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on. On Galaxy phones, you also need to enable “Share with Apple devices” in Quick Share settings.

QR code sharing works on every Android phone. Quick Share generates a QR code that the iPhone owner scans with their camera app. The file downloads in a browser, and nothing needs to be installed on the iPhone. This option rolled out to all Android phones starting May 12, 2026.

Devices that support direct AirDrop interoperability include Samsung Galaxy S24, S25, and S26 series, Z Fold and Z Flip models from the sixth generation onward, Pixel 9 and 10 series (plus 8a, 9a, 10a), Xiaomi 17T Pro, OnePlus 15, OPPO Find X9 series, Vivo X300 series, and HONOR Magic V6. More devices from Motorola, OPPO, and HONOR are coming later in 2026.