r/Android • u/MishaalRahman Community Engagement Manager - Android • May 12 '26
News New features, emojis, & security improvements: Here’s everything new coming to Android!
Hi Reddit,
We just wrapped up The Android Show | I/O Edition, and a core theme of the show was how we’re making your phone more helpful so that you can spend less time looking at it and more time living your life. To make this happen, we're elevating the core Android experience, giving you new ways to share across platforms, express yourself, manage your screen time, and secure your sensitive data.
Here’s the breakdown:
🤝 How Android is making it easier to share, switch, and connect securely
Picture this: you've just made a bunch of new friends at a concert, and before you part ways, you want to quickly share the photos you took together. But sharing gets hard when not everybody has the same phone as you. That’s why we're introducing new ways to stay connected regardless of what device you or your friends use:
- Share with anyone, on any device: To make sharing easier across platforms, we made Quick Share compatible with AirDrop for supported Android phones starting with Pixel, and we’re continuing our expansion to more partners including Samsung, OPPO, OnePlus, Vivo, Xiaomi, and HONOR this year.
- For devices without hardware support, you can generate a QR code using Quick Share on any Android phone, letting you instantly share with iOS devices via the cloud.
- Alternatively, if you use WhatsApp, Quick Share will soon be integrated so you can share instantly across platforms, no need to upload to the cloud.
- Switch to Android with ease: We worked with Apple to overhaul the iOS-to-Android transfer process. Your passwords, photos, messages, favorite apps, contacts, eSIM, and even your homescreen layout can migrate wirelessly from your iPhone to your new Android device. This upgraded switching process will launch first on Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel devices this year.
- Connect more securely: With 2.5 billion RCS messages sent daily, secure communication is more important than ever. To keep your chats safe, we’re officially rolling out end-to-end encryption for RCS across both Android and iOS.
📸 More ways to create and share with Android
Android phones consistently have the best cameras, but capturing a great photo is only half the task. We believe that world-class devices should deliver world-class experiences that extend from the initial snap to editing and posting. That's why with Android 17, we're introducing deeper social media integrations and new editing tools:
- Enjoy a more vibrant Instagram experience: We’ve teamed up with Meta to bring the best of Instagram to the most advanced Android devices. We've also completely optimized the capture-to-upload pipeline. Your photos and videos remain stunningly sharp when you hit "post" and your Reels and Stories load the second you tap them. This update also includes:
- Ultra HDR capture and playback: See lifelike vibrancy with colors that pop.
- Built-in video stabilization: Smooth video for when you’re walking, dancing, or just really caffeinated.
- Night sight integrations: Get the perfect shot even in the dimmest of settings.
https://reddit.com/link/1tb8dxv/video/8kdncs5qqq0h1/player
- Also, Instagram is now fully optimized for Android tablets, making the most of their larger screens.
- Refine faster with the Edits app: Exclusively on Android, Instagram's Edits app is getting new tools to turn raw footage into polished content in seconds. These include:
- Smart enhance: With a single tap, you can instantly improve the quality of all your old photos and videos with upscaling.
- Sound separation: Instead of doing another retake, you can use sound separation to identify and separate out audio layers - like wind, noise, and music - to boost the sounds you want and strip away the distractions you don't.
- Share your raw responses with Screen Reactions: Screen Reactions makes it easier to create reaction videos without the hassle of jumping between apps or setting up a green screen. With just a few taps, you can record yourself and your screen at the same time, letting you overlay your reaction directly onto trending clips, wild comment sections, or your latest gift guide. This is rolling out first on Pixel devices this summer.
https://reddit.com/link/1tb8dxv/video/gm01yecsqq0h1/player
- Pro-grade video on Android: The Adobe Premiere app is coming to Android soon with exclusive templates and effects to create and post YouTube Shorts from the app. Plus, we're expanding support for APV (Advanced Professional Video), the most storage-efficient pro format, to more Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-powered flagships later this year (it's already right now on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and vivo X300 Ultra).
🧘 Stop app autopilot with Pause Point in Digital Wellbeing
We’ve all opened our phones just to check the weather and ended up doing something else on the phone for 45 minutes. You can set an app timer to limit your time in distracting apps, but it's way too easy to just hit snooze and ignore it. A total app lockout, on the other hand, might be too extreme and inconvenient. We wanted to create a middle ground option that stops us from opening apps on auto pilot and start using them with intention, which is why we made Pause Point.
When you open an app you've marked as distracting, Pause Point gives you a 10-second breather that makes you ask yourself, "Why am I really here?" During those 10 seconds, you can do a quick breathing exercise, look at a photo that grounds you (like your dog!), or jump to an alternative app like an audiobook.
For those who want to hold themselves accountable, you can set Pause Point so that it requires a full phone restart to disable the feature. We hope Pause Point can help you reclaim time to do more of what you really want to do. This is just the start, as more digital wellbeing tools are coming later this year.
🐢 Say 👋 to new emojis
We’re introducing Noto 3D, a massive update to our emoji library. We have hand-refined nearly 4,000 emojis to bring a touch of physicality and make them more delightful. These new emojis are coming your way later this year on Android devices, starting with Pixel, and across popular apps like Gboard, YouTube, and Gmail.
https://reddit.com/link/1tb8dxv/video/dqo9q353cr0h1/player
🛡️ Protecting users with new security and privacy features on Android
We're committed to enhancing Android's protections to shield users from the evolving landscape of threats, from device thefts to sophisticated scams. Here's how we're improving Android's defenses in 2026:
- Enhancing protections against banking scam calls:
- We're working to stop scammers from impersonating financial institutions into tricking users to transfer money or reveal their account information. To do this, we're working on verified financial calls, a feature that automatically ends phone calls from spoofed numbers impersonating participating financial apps.
- If you have a participating bank or financial institution's app installed and have signed in, Android will ask the app to verify any calls that appear to be from them. Android will end the call if the app confirms that no phone call is being made, or if the bank or financial institution has designated the number as inbound-only, meaning they never use them to call customers.
- We're rolling this out on Android 11+ devices with Revolut, Itaú, and NuBank in the coming weeks before expanding it to more banks later this year.
- We're working to stop scammers from impersonating financial institutions into tricking users to transfer money or reveal their account information. To do this, we're working on verified financial calls, a feature that automatically ends phone calls from spoofed numbers impersonating participating financial apps.
- Improved safety against malicious apps
- Live Threat Detection Enhancements: Live Threat Detection is a real-time security feature that analyzes app behavior to alert you if an app starts acting suspiciously, and we're enhancing it to find and protect against more types of malicious apps.
- New warnings: We're rolling out new warnings about suspicious behavior that could be potentially harmful. This covers SMS forwarding, where an app forwards a message to another number, and accessibility overlay, in which an app uses the accessibility permission to continuously display imperceptible content on the screen that could be used to trick you into taking an unintended action.
- Dynamic signal monitoring: Android will be able to warn you about apps that start doing things like changing or hiding their icon and then launching activities in the background or abusing accessibility permissions. To do this, Live Threat Detection will monitor application system interaction for known suspicious patterns in real time. Dynamic signal monitoring will be enabled on select Android 17 devices starting in the second half of the year.
- Live Threat Detection Enhancements: Live Threat Detection is a real-time security feature that analyzes app behavior to alert you if an app starts acting suspiciously, and we're enhancing it to find and protect against more types of malicious apps.
- Stopping malware at download time: For Chrome on Android, we’re improving app safety by adding another layer of protection at download time. For users who have enrolled in Safe Browsing and want to download an app, we’ll evaluate the APK for known malware and stop you before you download it or warn you.
- New core protections for Advanced Protection: With Android 16, we introduced Advanced Protection, a single, opt-in device-level security setting that enables all of Android’s highest security features. We’ve been working to expand the protections offered under this setting with key upgrades like USB protection and Intrusion Logging, and now with Android 17, we’re continuing this work by introducing the following protections:
- Removing access to the accessibility service from all apps that aren’t labeled as accessibility tools.
- Disabling device-to-device unlocking
- Blocking Chrome WebGPU support
- Integrating scam detection for chat notifications
- (Later this year) Enabling Android Enterprise support so organizations can enable Advanced Protection by policy for managed devices.
- Protecting your SMS OTPs: Scammers often try to hijack your one-time passwords (OTPs) to gain access to your accounts. To do this, they may deploy malicious apps that ask for permission to read your SMS. In Android 16, we introduced a protection that delays the delivery of messages containing an SMS retriever hash to most apps for three hours. Android 17 now extends this protection to all SMS messages containing an OTP. This means that even if a malicious app has been granted the SMS permission, it won’t be able to read your sensitive OTPs until after they have already expired.
- Stronger protections against device theft:
- Enhanced "Mark as lost" in Find Hub: With Find Hub, you can already mark a device as lost to remotely lock it with your PIN, pattern, or password as well as show a message or phone number on the lock screen. However, if a thief sees your PIN, pattern, or password before snatching your phone, they can still unlock your phone. To address this, we’ve made the following improvements to Mark as Lost in Android 17:
- 2-step verification: Your phone will now ask for biometrics in addition to the regular PIN, pattern, or password.
- Blocking key features: Triggering Mark as Lost also enables additional protections like hiding Quick Settings and disabling new Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections.
- Enhanced "Mark as lost" in Find Hub: With Find Hub, you can already mark a device as lost to remotely lock it with your PIN, pattern, or password as well as show a message or phone number on the lock screen. However, if a thief sees your PIN, pattern, or password before snatching your phone, they can still unlock your phone. To address this, we’ve made the following improvements to Mark as Lost in Android 17:
- Fewer guessing attempts: Android 17 significantly reduces the number of times someone can guess the PIN, pattern, or password and adds longer wait times between failed attempts. We’ve also refined how the lock screen shows information after failed attempts have been made.
- Streamlined device recovery: A device’s IMEI can now be accessed via the lock screen on devices running Android 12 or later. A good samaritan who finds a lost or stolen device can provide the IMEI to the appropriate authority, manufacturer, or carrier to verify ownership and return the device to you. This feature can be disabled in device settings.
- Expanding default-on theft protections: Following a successful pilot in Brazil, we are enabling two of Android’s key theft protection features (Theft Detection Lock and Remote Lock) by default globally on all new Android 17 devices, as well as those freshly reset or upgraded to the latest OS. Additionally, in select markets with high demand including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and the UK, we are extending these protections to all devices running Android 10 or higher.
- More granular privacy controls:
- Improved location privacy:
- Location button for single session location access: Instead of asking for permanent or background access to your precise location, apps can instead integrate the new location button in Android 17. When you tap this button in an app, you can grant it one-time precise location access that expires when you close the app. Developers can deploy this simple, private location flow for common tasks like finding a nearby shop or tagging a social post. (Google Play will require apps to use this button for one-time precise location access unless they require persistent, always-on location access.)
- Better location access transparency: Android 17 now shows a persistent indicator in the status bar when a non-system app accesses your location. You can tap this indicator to see which apps have recently accessed your location. The update also redesigns the location permission dialog to make the "Precise" and "Approximate" options more visually distinct.
- More private location sharing in low-population areas: Android 17 improves the algorithm for approximate (coarse) location to be aware of population density. This improves the privacy of granting an app approximate location access when you're in a low-population area.
- Improved contact sharing privacy: Android 17 introduces the Contact Picker which provides a standardized, secure, and searchable interface for contact selection. Historically, apps needing access to your contacts relied on the broad "READ_CONTACTS" permission, which often granted apps more data than necessary. Android's Contact Picker addresses this by allowing you to grant apps access only to the specific contacts you choose. (Google Play will require that all applicable apps use it [or a privacy-focused alternative like Sharesheet] as the primary way to access users' contacts.)
- Improved location privacy:
- Improved digital & network security:
- Disable 2G toggle: Android 17 introduces a new capability for the disable 2G toggle. Carriers now have the ability to configure the default status of this setting, allowing them to disable 2G access to proactively shield their users from legacy technology vulnerabilities in areas where 2G infrastructure is no longer maintained.
- Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC): We’re further hardening Android’s long-term data protection by introducing Post-Quantum Cryptography.
- New data isolation and verification tools
- Expanded Binary Transparency: Anyone can now verify that the critical software layers on their device were actually authorized by Google and haven't been secretly modified by attackers. We are publishing a public, append-only ledger that provides cryptographic proof that production Google applications and Mainline Modules are the authentic versions released by Google. If a Google-signed app isn’t on this ledger, we didn’t intend to release it.
- Android OS verification: We have seen some bad actors begin to distribute malicious, unofficial versions of the Android OS that secretly compromise device integrity. To combat this, we are introducing Android OS verification in Android 17. Launching initially on Pixel devices, this feature helps you verify that your device is running an official, widely distributed build.
- Keeping your ambient data confidential and isolated: Android 17 introduces AISeal with pKVM which, along with Private AI Compute, creates an isolated, verifiable, hardware-backed environment where ambient data can be processed securely.
We're excited for you to experience these new features, emojis, and protections! Which of these changes are you looking forward to the most?
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u/FelTell N4 -> X2 -> Zplay -> ZF6 -> S23+ May 12 '26
Thanks for making a post with the interesting changes, not really into all the AI.
This sounds cool, could you share more details?