Android 17 Beta 2 update officially rolled out for developers; Includes Bubbles, Contact Picker, and more
A few weeks ago, Google officially released Android 17 Beta 1, and now the company has released Android 17 Beta 2 for Android developers.
Android 17 Beta 2 drops today!
This update delivers a range of new capabilities, including system-level user experience improvements like the EyeDropper API and a privacy-preserving Contacts Picker. Check out what's new → https://t.co/E11MYa1gxO pic.twitter.com/N0DdkCe5AE
— Android Developers (@AndroidDev) February 26, 2026
Android 17 Beta 2 Update
User experience & UI system
Bubbles
This is a windowing mode that offers a new floating UI experience separate from the messaging bubbles API. Users can create an app bubble on their phone, foldable, or tablet by long-pressing an app icon on the launcher. On large screens, there is a bubble bar in the taskbar where users can organise, move between, and move bubbles to and from anchored points on the screen.
EyeDropper API
A new system-level EyeDropper API allows your app to request a color from any pixel on the display without requiring sensitive screen capture permissions.
Contacts Picker
A new system-level contacts picker via ACTION_PICK_CONTACTS grants temporary, session-based read access to only the specific data fields requested by the user, reducing the need for the broad READ_CONTACTS permissions. It also allows for selections from the device’s personal or work profiles.
Easier pointer capture compatibility with touchpads
Now, by default, the system will recognise pointer movement and scrolling gestures when the touchpad is captured, and report them just like mouse events. You can still request the old, detailed finger location data by explicitly requesting capture in the new “absolute” mode.
Interactive Chooser resting bounds
By calling getInitialRestingBounds on Android’s ChooserSession, your app can identify the target position the Chooser occupies after animations and data loading are complete, enabling better UI adjustments.
Connectivity & Cross-Device
Cross-device app handoff
A new Handoff API allows you to specify the application state to be resumed on another device, such as an Android tablet. When opted in, the system synchronises state via CompanionDeviceManager and displays a handoff suggestion in the launcher of the user’s nearby devices. Handoff supports both native app-to-app transitions and app-to-web fallback.
Advanced ranging APIs
We are adding support for 2 new ranging technologies –
- UWB DL-TDOA, which enables apps to use UWB for indoor navigation. This API surface is FIRA (Fine Ranging Consortium) 4.0 DL-TDOA spec-compliant and enables privacy-preserving indoor navigation (avoiding tracking of the device by the anchor).
- Proximity Detection, which enables apps to use the new ranging specification being adopted by WFA (WiFi Alliance). This technology provides improved reliability and accuracy compared to the existing Wi-Fi Aware-based ranging specification.
Data plan enhancements
To optimise media quality, your app can now retrieve carrier-allocated maximum data rates for streaming applications using getStreamingAppMaxDownlinkKbps and getStreamingAppMaxUplinkKbps.
Core Functionality, Privacy & Performance
Local Network Access
Android 17 introduces the ACCESS_LOCAL_NETWORK runtime permission to protect users from unauthorised local network access. Because this falls under the existing NEARBY_DEVICES permission group, users who have already granted other NEARBY_DEVICES permissions will not be prompted again. This prevents malicious apps from exploiting unrestricted local network access for covert user tracking and fingerprinting.
Time zone offset change broadcast
Android now provides a reliable broadcast intent, ACTION_TIMEZONE_OFFSET_CHANGED, triggered when the system’s time zone offset changes, such as during Daylight Saving Time transitions.
NPU Management and Priotitization
Apps targeting Android 17 that need to directly access the NPU must declare FEATURE_NEURAL_PROCESSING_UNIT in their manifest to avoid being blocked from accessing the NPU.
ICU 78 and Unicode 17 support
Core internationalization libraries have been updated to ICU 78, expanding support for new scripts, characters, and emoji blocks, and enabling direct formatting of time objects.
SMS OTP protection
Android is expanding its SMS OTP protection by automatically delaying access to SMS messages with OTP. However, for certain apps like the default SMS app, etc and the app that corresponds to the hash are exempt from this delay. This update extends the protection to all SMS messages with OTP. For most apps, SMS messages containing an OTP will only be accessible after a delay of three hours to help prevent OTP hijacking.
Delayed access to WebOTP format SMS messages
If the app has the permission to read SMS messages but is not the intended recipient of the OTP (as determined by domain verification), the WebOTP format SMS message will only be accessible after three hours have elapsed. This change applies to all apps regardless of their target API level.
Delayed access to standard SMS messages with OTP
For SMS messages containing an OTP that do not use the WebOTP or SMS Retriever formats, the OTP SMS will only be accessible after three hours for most apps. This change only applies to apps that target Android 17 (API level 37) or higher.
Certain apps, such as the default SMS, assistant app, along with connected device companion apps, etc will be exempt from this delay. All apps that rely on reading SMS messages for OTP extraction should transition to using SMS Retriever or SMS User Consent APIs to ensure continued functionality.
Android 17 schedule
As earlier revealed, the Platform Stability milestone is targeted for March. Google plans for Android 17 to continue to get updates in a series of quarterly releases. The upcoming release in Q2 is the only one where planned app-breaking behaviour changes will be introduced. While the company plans to have a minor SDK release in Q4 with additional APIs and features.
