Google may have surprised us with more new Android 17 features than expected, but there’s still no sign of these three
Publish Date: 2026-05-19 09:04:00
Source Domain: www.techradar.com
- Google has confirmed that several new Android 17 features are on the way
- Three of the most-anticipated updates did not get announced, though
- Poll reveals that Gemini Intelligence is the most exciting new feature
Ahead of Google’s annual developer conference, aka Google I/O, later today (May 19), the company announced a slew of new updates to its Android 17 operating system — but some rumored features were noticeably absent.
Leading up to the Android Show, at which Google confirmed several new features and improvements like 3D emojis and ‘Screen Reactions’, speculation had been building around several unannounced Android 17 tools discovered in beta versions by code diggers.
From a visual redesign to a new home-screen customizer tool, there seemed to be some evidence suggesting that these new Android 17 features would be announced during the showcase.
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As expected, we did get a visual refresh in a roundabout way with Material 3 Expressive, which builds upon the Android 12 design update Material You with more dynamic colors and response animations. But it stopped short of the Liquid Glass-eque redesign that some leaks had hinted at.
The rumored home-screen customizer tool also appeared, but in a different form to what was expected. While Google didn’t technically announce this, it did reveal a new Create My Widget tool, which arguably goes even further by letting users generate personalized widgets more easily.
But what about the rumored ‘Motion Assist’ feature (officially called Motion Cues in Android beta code), app locking, and a new gesture control tool? According to two separate polls we ran that saw close to 850 votes combined, users might not be too disappointed that these weren’t announced, as those features ranked among the least anticipated.
The most exciting new Android 17 features
Gemini Intelligence is the new Android 17 feature TechRadar readers say they’re most excited about…
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