It’s not a huge update.Credit: Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket
There’s a new Android beta out there for your perusal.
Google has released the second beta for the third quarterly platform release of Android 17, available for installation on Pixel devices now. You can install it now by enrolling your device in Google’s beta program. Sometimes, these betas come packed with lots of exciting new toys to play with, on top of various bug fixes. This is not necessarily one of those times.
According to Google’s release notes, as well as some reporting by 9to5Google, there are a couple of small new features and a bunch of fixes in this update. One new feature is the ability to require a phone unlock in order to change quick settings like Bluetooth, WiFi, and airplane mode. Normally, you can do that from the lock screen. There are also new themes, custom icons, and weather effects for your phone’s wallpaper to play around with.
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As for the rest of the update, it sounds like it’s mostly unexciting (but probably necessary) bug fixes. Google fixed an issue that caused phones to crash and reboot during normal use, as well as another one that caused devices to shut down unexpectedly during WhatsApp video calls. Apparently, paired smartwatches were also seeing an issue where they would continue ringing even after a phone call was answered. That has been fixed, among other smaller issues.
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Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. Alex can be found on Bluesky at yelix.bsky.social.
