Android 17 Beta: Enhanced Privacy, Security, and Performance Features
Google Releases Android 17 Beta with Enhanced Privacy, Security, and Performance
Google has unveiled the first beta version of Android 17, providing developers with an early glimpse into the upcoming changes to the platform’s core app behavior, tooling, performance, media handling, and connectivity. The company plans to rapidly transition from this beta to the Platform Stability milestone in March, at which point final APIs and behavior definitions for apps will be solidified. Following this, developers will have several months to prepare for the final stable release, which will be accompanied by quarterly updates, including a Q2 release that will introduce compatibility-affecting app behavior changes and a minor SDK release in Q4 that will add new APIs and features.
Key Changes in Android 17
One notable change in Android 17 is the removal of the developer opt-out for orientation and resizability restrictions on large-screen devices. This means that apps will need to adapt to a broader range of layouts on foldable devices, tablets, and desktop-style windowing environments, although games will be exempt from some of these requirements.
Privacy and Security Enhancements
In terms of privacy and security, Android 17 introduces several key enhancements. The platform will deprecate the android:usesCleartextTraffic manifest attribute, and apps targeting Android 17 or higher will block cleartext traffic by default unless they have a Network Security Configuration in place. To manage network traffic rules with greater precision, developers are encouraged to migrate to Network Security Configuration files. Additionally, a public Service Provider Interface for HPKE hybrid cryptography is now available, enabling secure communication using public key and symmetric encryption. User preference controls have also been added for VoIP call history integration, allowing users to manage how VoIP call logs appear and are shared.
Performance Improvements
Under-the-hood performance improvements include the addition of a lock-free message queue to reduce contention and missed frames, generational garbage collection to lower overall memory management costs, and enforcement of static final fields to enable more aggressive runtime optimization. New profiling triggers also support deeper performance analysis.
Media and Camera Support
Media and camera support has been expanded with tools aimed at professional-grade applications. A new API allows camera capture sessions to change output configurations without restarting the session, reducing visual glitches and simplifying transitions between modes.
According to Matthew McCullough, VP of Product Management for Android Developer, “You can enroll any supported Pixel device to receive this and future Android beta updates over-the-air. If you don’t have a Pixel device, 64-bit system images are available through the Android Emulator in Android Studio.”
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