5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know Android 17 Can Do

Android 17 has just arrived, and with a host of Android phone brands like OnePlus, Samsung, and Google supporting Android 17, it shouldn’t be long before everyone is excited about this major software update. Before its official release, Android already showed off the main features during its Android Show in May, and they all look pretty impressive.

There’s Gemini Intelligence, which now lets you auto-fill forms faster with details from your photos, emails and messages. Plus, it powers Rambler, a smarter speech-to-text converter that makes your message more coherent. Then you have Pause Point, a mindfulness feature that literally adds a deliberate pause in using your device. It prevents distracting apps from launching as soon as you open them, so you have a moment to pause and think if you really need to use this app. With Android 17, you also get more dynamic emojis, in-app video stabilization in Instagram, and improved iOS to Android transfer. But beyond these highlights, Android 17 actually offers more practical settings and tools that you might have missed. Here are five.

There’s no denying the usefulness of Google Gemini in your daily life, but the problem is its bulk. It uses your device’s volume by default, which means it will be as loud as the song you’re listening to on Spotify. If this doesn’t suit you, especially in public, you’ll still have to adjust the volume manually every time you talk to Gemini. Luckily, you won’t need to do this anymore in Android 17. You now have the option to adjust Gemini’s volume independently of your usual media volume. Follow these steps:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Go to Sound and vibration.
3. Drag the slider under Assistant Volume to your preferred level. You’ll hear a preview of the sound level for that level, so you can change it if necessary.

If Gemini or another voice assistant is active, your volume buttons can also be used to adjust the assistant’s volume. Press the volume up or down button and you’ll see a slider appear next to your typical volume bar. You’ll know which is which because the assistant volume is marked with a chat bubble icon. You can either keep pressing the volume button or drag the slider on the screen to adjust the volume. Keep in mind that this separate volume slider will only appear when you’re talking to Gemini or your assistant of choice. Otherwise, you will only see the typical volume control when you press the volume button.

One of the reasons why Android is more powerful than iOS is the floating chat heads feature. On supported apps like Facebook Messenger, you won’t need to leave your current app just to read and reply to your friend’s chat. Just tap the floating chat head, which stays at the top of the screen no matter which app you open. It sounds trivial, but it’s actually a handy feature, especially for multitaskers. Well, Android 17 now brings the same convenience to all your installed apps, as it now allows you to turn any of them into a floating bubble.

To open an app as a bubble, simply tap and hold its app icon (either on the Home screen or in the app drawer) and choose the bubble icon, which looks like a rectangle with a small dot. If you don’t immediately see the bubble option, go to Actions first. Immediately, the app will become a floating window with the app icon as the bubble head. You can then use the application as you normally would, although of course the window is a little smaller than normal.

To minimize bubble windows, simply tap the bubble app icon or swipe up from the bottom of the bubble window. To completely close one of the app bubbles, drag the app icon to the X mark at the bottom of the screen. You can always reopen any recently closed app bubble when you tap the plus icon. Just like chat heads, Android 17’s bubble mode supports multiple apps. They will stack on top of each other and allow you to switch between any app bubble you want to display. You are also free to move all minimized bubbles wherever it suits you.

Many Android apps already integrate dark mode or, at the very least, sync with the system theme. Surprisingly, there are still some more stubborn ones that are stuck in light mode. Android 17 fixes this problem with its improved extended dark theme feature. This Extended Dark Theme option was actually introduced in Android 16 and designed to force light mode-only apps to switch to dark mode. However, the dark theme is applied system-wide to most apps without a built-in dark mode.

On Android 17, you can decide which light mode-only apps will use the dark theme. This way, if you prefer an app to be in clear mode, you are free to exclude it. To use the improved extended dark theme feature on Android 17, here’s what you need to do:

1. In Settings, open Display and tap.
2. Under Appearance, tap Dark theme.
3. Enable Use Dark Theme.
4. Select Expanded from the options.
5. To apply dark mode only to specific apps, tap the gear icon next to Expanded.

You will then see a list of all your apps, even those that already have dark mode. Turn on the switch for apps you want to display in dark mode. Then launch the app and see if everything goes well. If the app is always in clear mode or looks shaky with inverted images, it may not be compatible with the expanded functionality. If you have enabled the extended dark theme for an app that has a built-in dark mode and it doesn’t look right, turn off the extended dark theme for that app and use its own dark mode instead.

Android’s screen recorder isn’t really bad. But with Android 17, you get an additional feature you probably didn’t know you needed: the selfie video overlay. Officially called Screen Reactions, this feature allows you to start a selfie recording while you record your screen at the same time. This can come in handy when you want to share your reaction to a new app you just downloaded or show viewers how to create their own emoji.

This selfie recording isn’t really new to Android phones, though. This is actually one of the features of Samsung Galaxy and Motorola devices. But unlike existing selfie video overlays, Android 17 doesn’t just place your face in a small circle. Instead, it goes the extra mile and removes your background as if you were using a green screen. This way, only your face (and anyone else who participates) is on the recording.

Here’s a quick tutorial on how to use screen reactions on Android 17:

1. Open the Quick Settings panel by swiping down from the top of the screen.
2. Tap Screen Recording.
3. In the pop-up window that opens, make sure the “Whole Screen” option is selected. You cannot record a selfie video on screen recordings for single apps.
4. Enable Show Selfie Camera. This also automatically activates the recording microphone.
5. To add a solid background color to your selfie video, tap the palette icon next to Start and choose from the preset colors.
6. Once ready, tap Start to begin recording.

Your face will now appear on the screen. To resize it, simply pinch your fingers in and out. You can also drag the overlay anywhere on the screen.

Whenever you receive a message, Android lets you reply to it directly from the Notifications panel. This way you won’t need to open the app. But besides the Reply button, you will also see auto-generated reply suggestions below the message you received. They make replying even easier because you just tap on a contact and it is automatically sent to your contact. These automatically generated texts are usually called quick replies or smart replies, and they seem quite convenient to use on paper.

In practice, however, they are not as transparent as one might hope. A common problem is how easy it is to accidentally tap it when opening or reading the notification. They also don’t capture everything you want to say, so you’ll still need to go to the Reply button to type out your entire message.

If you’re not a fan of Quick Replies because of this inconvenience, you would be happy to know that Android 17 has a fix. Now, suggested replies are not automatically sent to your contact. Instead, the selected answer opens in a small text field when you tap it. Here you are free to edit the automatically generated text, add your own thoughts to it, or erase it to enter something completely new. Once you’re ready, hit the Send button. It works on any messaging app that supports suggested replies on Android, including Google Messages, WhatsApp, and Slack.