Google has introduced the first beta version of the open mobile platform Android 17. To evaluate the new capabilities of the platform, a preview testing program has been proposed. Firmware builds have been prepared for Pixel 6/6a/6 Pro, Pixel 7/7a/7 Pro, Pixel 8/8a/8 Pro, Pixel 9/9a/9 Pro/9 Pro XL/9 Pro Fold, Pixel 10/10 Pro/10 Pro XL/10 Pro Fold, Pixel Fold, and Pixel Tablet. The release of Android 17 is scheduled for the second quarter of 2026.
Among the changes in Android 17 Beta 1:
- Development of the platform for large-screen devices like tablets, laptops, desktop systems, and foldable-screen smartphones has continued. The previously existing options to disable the new behavior on devices with screens wider than 600 density-independent pixels (dp) have been removed. This behavior is related to ignoring certain APIs for managing screen resizing and orientation (screenOrientation, resizeableActivity, [min|max]AspectRatio), as well as adaptive placement of apps in windows that allow resizing and moving across the screen.
- A new implementation of the message queue android.os.MessageQueue has been proposed, operating without locks. This new implementation enhances performance and reduces frame loss.
- A generational garbage collector (Generational Concurrent Mark-Compact Garbage Collector) has been implemented in the Android Runtime (ART), using separate processing for 'old' and 'young' objects, which increases the efficiency of cleaning recently created objects with short lifespans. The use of the generational garbage collector reduces the risk of pauses during resource allocation and lessens CPU load, thus improving energy consumption efficiency.
- Applications declaring support for Android 17 and newer releases are prohibited from modifying fields marked as 'static final', enabling more aggressive performance optimizations at runtime.
- To reduce memory consumption, the size of custom notification view layouts is limited.
- Additional triggers TRIGGER_TYPE_COLD_START, TRIGGER_TYPE_OOM, and TRIGGER_TYPE_KILL_EXCESSIVE_CPU_USAGE have been added to the ProfilingManager for collecting data useful in debugging performance issues.
- The capabilities of software interfaces for working with the camera have been expanded. The updateOutputConfigurations() method has been added to the CameraCaptureSession object for attaching or detaching output areas on the fly without the need to reconfigure the entire camera data capture session. In practice, this change allows for smooth switching between different camera operating modes (for example, video recording and taking photos). When working with logical cameras that encompass multiple physical sensors, it has been added the capability to obtain metadata about each sensor, rather than just the primary one.
- Support for the VVC (Versatile Video Coding) video format has been added, also known as the H.266 video compression standard, developed jointly by the MPEG (ISO/IEC JTC 1) and VCEG (ITU-T) working groups, with participation from companies such as Apple, Ericsson, Intel, Huawei, Microsoft, Qualcomm, and Sony. H.266 replaces H.265 (HEVC) and provides high efficiency for transmitting and storing all screen resolutions (from SD and HD to 4K and 8K), supports video with High Dynamic Range (HDR), and 360-degree panoramic video.
- The ability to record video at a constant quality level has been added. The mode can be configured in the MediaRecorder object using the setVideoEncodingQuality() method, allowing the quality level to be fixed without being tied to the bitrate.
- Access to APIs for audio playback, connection to audio devices, and volume adjustment is restricted for applications running in the background. It is implied that only active applications, which the user is currently interacting with, can initiate playback and change the volume.
- The android:usesCleartextTraffic attribute, which allowed applications to transmit unencrypted traffic, such as requests over "http://", has been deprecated. If unencrypted traffic is necessary, separate files with security settings should be used.
- Support for hybrid encryption based on the HPKE (Hybrid Public Key Encryption, RFC 9180) mechanism has been added, combining the simplicity of key transfer in public key encryption with high performance symmetric encryption (data is encrypted by a fast symmetric key, while the key itself is encrypted by a slow asymmetric one).
- Settings have been added to manage the history of VoIP calls, allowing for control over the retention of logs and the display of call information in the interface.
- The Wi-Fi RTT (Round-Trip-Time) API has been enhanced to provide continuous approximate distance measurements to access points and secure identification of nodes for P2P connections (peer-to-peer).
- New profiles for requesting permissions and application interaction with medical devices and fitness trackers have been added to the CompanionDeviceManager.
Source: opennet.ru
