Android 17 has been available for a couple of months, and it’s been rolled out to many of the most recent devices.This is sneakily one of the best updates Google has rolled out in recent years.Make sure you’re taking advantage of all the new features.
As you would expect, most of the big changes are made available right away.Things like multitasking “Bubbles” and the Pixel’s new “Rambler” voice-to-text engine.However, there are a few under-the-radar features that you’ll want to go out of your way to enable.
At the time of writing, most of these features are still only available on Pixel phones.However, keep an eye out for some of them to trickle out to other devices in the future.Custom vibration patterns for each ringtone It just makes sense For years, it’s been possible to assign specific ringtones to your contacts.
It’s an easy way to know who’s calling without looking at your phone.Why should those of us who prefer to keep our phones on vibrate have to miss out? Android 17 makes vibration alerts for calls as customizable as ringtones.By default, most ringtones have matching vibration patterns, but you have the ability to change them as you like.
You can keep the matching vibration pattern for some ringtones, change it for others, or even go in the opposite direction and set one vibration pattern for all ringtones.Head over to Settings > Sound & vibration > Ringtone to check it out.Close Force dark mode for all apps Whether they like it or not System-wide dark theme has been around since Android 10, but there are still apps that don’t support it.
Android 17 added a new “Expanded” dark theme option that attempts to solve this problem.It even includes per-app toggles.Google says that the “Expanded” dark theme works for most apps that don’t support it.
However, if you find that an app doesn’t look right with the forced dark theme, you can disable it for only that app.Go to Settings > Display & touch > Dark theme.Select “Expanded,” then tap the gear icon to opt out of any apps that you’d like.
Close Related Some of the most useful Pixel features are hidden in plain sight—here's how to enable them Unnecessarily obfuscated.Posts 3 By Goran Damnjanovic Even better app usage reminders Think twice before doomscrolling Google has quietly given Android — especially Pixel phones — some of the best “Digital Wellbeing” tools you can find.“Screen time reminders” are genuinely more helpful than time limits, and now, with Android 17, it’s been taken to the next level with “Pause Point.” Rather than putting a basic wall in front of your face when you open a distracting app, Pause Point attempts to redirect you.
You might see a breathing guide, favorite photos, a preferred app, a reflection reminder, or a session time limit.You decide the apps and the types of Pause Points.Go to Settings > Digital Wellbeing > Pause Point.
Close Dedicated volume slider for the assistant A small quality of life improvement Here’s a small, but welcomed change: your preferred digital assistant now has its own volume slider.Previously, you could separately control the volume for media, calls, ringtones, notifications, and alarms.Assistant volume was lumped in with media.
Now, with Android 17, you can customize how loud or quiet the assistant sounds.This works with whatever app you have selected as your default assistant, not just Gemini.So, if you’re constantly yelling commands at your phone from across the room, you can crank the volume without blowing your ears out the next time you listen to music.
Find it at Settings > Sound & vibration.Close Automatically silence notification barages It’s time to chillax This last one technically started to arrive last year, but it’s now fully rolled out in Android 17.You know those moments when a bunch of notifications arrive all at once? Maybe you just took your phone out of airplane mode, or a friend likes to break each thought into a dozen tiny messages.
“Notification Cooldown” is a simple feature that limits the alerts in these situations.The first notification will make its usual fuss, but each subsequent notification within the span of a few seconds will be increasingly silenced.Enable the feature at Settings > Notifications > Notification cooldown.
Close There’s always more than meets the eye You can usually count on the best features being enabled right out of the gate with a new version of Android.However, it’s always a good idea to explore the settings for any hidden gems.Sometimes, the most useful toggles aren’t ready for prime time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them ahead of schedule.
Related The most useful Google Pixel feature I found isn't new, but almost nobody uses it One of the oldest hardware features in smartphones is vibration motors.While the technology has improved, the functionality hasn't really changed much over the years.However, I recently discovered a feature on my Google Pixel phone that makes vibration a lot smarter.
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