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Google has released Android 17 and Wear OS 7, introducing new multitasking features, parental controls, security tools, and smartwatch upgrades. The launch is also accompanied by a Pixel Drop that brings Google’s latest AI models to its devices.
Google on Tuesday released the final version of its Android 17 operating system, as well as its counterpart for smartwatches, Wear OS 7. The latest release, which arrives first on its own Pixel devices, is also accompanied by a Pixel Drop, bringing new features that include support for the latest AI models, like the music-generation model Lyria 3, the multimodal Gemini Omni, and speech-to-translation tools for the Pixel 10a with AudioLM.
The latest feature release underscores Google’s strategy of using its Android and Pixel devices to showcase its latest AI technology. While its rival Apple is focused on catching up in AI with September’s public launch of AI upgrades to Siri and iOS 27, Google’s Android 17 is focused on its newest AI models, Gemini’s role in creation, communication, and other device experiences.
In today’s Pixel Drop, Android Quick Share’s file-sharing feature will become compatible with Apple’s AirDrop on older Pixel 8a and 9a devices. Plus, Gemini Omni will now let you edit videos in a conversation, while Lyria 3 lets users create music tracks with text prompts and/or images in the Gemini app. Pixel 10a devices will also get better speech-to-speech translation tools with AudioLM.
Other phone features are arriving, too, such as the ability to record a personalized outgoing audio message for callers when you can’t answer. Plus, the “Take a Message” feature will arrive in more global markets.
The Pixel Drop brings emergency detection features to the Google Pixel Watch as well, meaning that if the watch detects a car crash, fall, or lack of pulse, it will automatically contact emergency services and your selected emergency contacts.
Beyond AI, Android 17’s larger update allows users to take advantage of features like a “bubble bar,” which is a new user interface element that lets you organize, move, and then quickly access recent apps that appear as bubbles at the bottom of your screen. The feature is designed to help speed up app interactions and aid in multi-app workflows.