Google’s Android 17 Has Some Non-AI Updates. Do We Care?

Remember how last month’s Google’s I/O 2026 dev conference was literally two hours of wall-to-wall AI promotion? It turns out that the company is actually also adding some non-“Gemini Intelligence” features to Android, though they’re few and far between. Let’s leave all talk of Gemini Intelligence to the side for now. Whereas Android 16 was built around a new UI look with “Material 3 Expressive,” the updated Android 17, arriving Tuesday, focuses on a few new features—some of which actually seem potentially useful. For example, if you’re keen to make more of those dime-a-dozen reaction videos online, Google now supports “screen reactions” that record your screen and your face simultaneously. Android is also adding previously detailed privacy featuresthat let users grant apps temporary access to their precise location if they need assistance. Other features let you lock your phone should it ever go missing (or you fear that some miscreant has made off with it). Google designed a bunch of the new Android 17 features specifically for foldables, though they’re coming first to current and future Pixel Fold devices. The first big feature is “Bubbles,” a kind of picture-in-picture mode tha