Android 17 Beta 3 is finally ready for testers to try out

It didn’t take Google very long to release Android 17 Beta 2 after releasing the first beta. It arrived only about two weeks later, with Beta 1 landing on February 13 and Beta 2 on February 26. It’s been a month since then, but Android 17 Beta 3 is finally here for you to install.

Just like with the second beta, Beta 3 is available for the Pixel 6 and newer devices. Owners of the Pixel Tablet and Google’s foldables will also be able to join in on the latest beta party.

This beta delivers the final SDK/NDK APIs and enters Android 17 into platform stability. With this release, we’re only one step away from the rollout of stable Android 17. It’s expected that the stable version of the OS will come out in June 2026.

If you haven’t joined the beta program yet, but are interested in trying it out, you’ll need to enroll your Pixel phone. For those already in the program, Beta 3 will come as an over-the-air update. And if you want to leave the program to get the final stable release, you’ll need to ignore the Beta 3 update and wait for the stable version’s launch.

In the previous release, we got a “Bubbles” windowing mode, the Android 17 Contacts Picker, and a few other under-the-hood improvements. But what’s new with this update? Here’s what you can expect:

Hidden app labels

An option has been added on Android 17 that allows users to hide app labels on the home screen. This does not apply to apps in the app drawer or within folders.

Redesigned screen recording toolbar

Android 17 Beta 3 introduces a redesign to the screen recording experience. There’s now a floating toolbar that provides easier access to recording controls and capture settings after you tap on the Quick Settings tile. We first saw this redesign in the latest Android Canary release.

Separate Wi-Fi and mobile toggles

Another change spotted in Android Canary 2603 was individual toggles for Wi-Fi and mobile data in Quick Settings.

Scheduled clock change alerts

You can now receive alerts when your clock performs a scheduled change. For example, you’ll be alerted when that the clock has changed for daylight savings.

Granular audio routing for hearing devices and an independent Assistant volume stream

If you have a hearing device, you can now independently manage where specific system sounds are played. You can choose to have notifications, ringtones, and alarms play on your connected hearing aid or on your device’s built-in speaker. Android 17 Beta 3 also introduces a separate Assistant volume slider, allowing you to change the Assistant’s volume independently from the media volume.

Per-app exceptions for Expanded dark theme

This lets you individually choose which apps you don’t want a dark theme applied to automatically.

Text cursor blink rate customization

You can now adjust the speed at which the cursor blinks or you can turn off the flashing completely.

Additional changes

• Discrete password visibility settings for touch and physical keyboards: Characters entered into a password field with a physical keyboard will now be hidden immediately. Characters entered via touch input will briefly be displayed as before.
• Interactive Picture-in-Picture for desktop: This is a new mode for Android’s desktop windowing mode. It allows an app to request that its PiP window remain interactive while staying on top of other app windows.
• Better support for widgets on external displays: With Android 17 Beta 3, widget padding, text size, and layout attributes automatically scale based on the density difference between the app’s original context and the target display.
• Support for the RAW14 image format: Android 17 introduces support for the RAW14 image.