Features and APIs

Android 17 introduces great new features and APIs for developers. The following sections summarize these features to help you get started with the related APIs.

For a detailed list of new, modified, and removed APIs, read the API diff report. For details on new APIs visit the Android API reference — new APIs are highlighted for visibility.

You should also review areas where platform changes might affect your apps. For more information, see the following pages:

• Behavior changes that affect apps when they target Android 17
• Behavior changes that affect all apps regardless of targetSdkVersion.

Core functionality

Android 17 adds the following new features related to core Android functionality.

New ProfilingManager triggers

Android 17 adds several new system triggers to ProfilingManager to help you collect in-depth data to debug performance issues.

The new triggers are:

• TRIGGER_TYPE_COLD_START: Trigger occurs during app cold start. It provides both a call stack sample and a system trace in the response.
• TRIGGER_TYPE_OOM: Trigger occurs when an app throws an OutOfMemoryError and provides a Java Heap Dump in response.
• TRIGGER_TYPE_KILL_EXCESSIVE_CPU_USAGE: Trigger occurs when an app is killed due to abnormal and excessive CPU usage and provides a call stack sample in response.

To understand how to set up the system trigger, see the documentation on trigger-based profiling and how to retrieve and analyze profiling data documentation.

Security

Android 17 adds the following new features to improve device and app security.

Android Advanced Protection Mode (AAPM)

Android Advanced Protection Mode offers Android users a powerful new set of security features, marking a significant step in safeguarding users—particularly those at higher risk—from sophisticated attacks. Designed as an opt-in feature, AAPM is activated with a single configuration setting that users can turn on at any time to apply an opinionated set of security protections.

These core configurations include blocking app installation from unknown sources (sideloading), restricting USB data signaling, and mandating Google Play Protect scanning, which significantly reduces the device's attack surface area. Developers can integrate with this feature using the AdvancedProtectionManager API to detect the mode's status, enabling applications to automatically adopt a hardened security posture or restrict high-risk functionality when a user has opted in.

Connectivity

Android 17 adds the following features to improve device and app connectivity.

Constrained satellite networks

Implements optimizations to enable apps to function effectively over low-bandwidth satellite networks.

User experience and system UI

Android 17 includes the following changes to improve user experience.

Handoff

Handoff is a new feature and API coming to Android 17 that app developers can integrate with to provide cross-device continuity for their users. It allows the user to start an app activity on one Android device and transition it to another Android device. Handoff runs in the background of a user's device and surfaces available activities from the user's other nearby devices through various entry points, like the launcher and taskbar, on the receiving device.

Apps can designate Handoff to launch the same native Android app, if it is installed and available on the receiving device. In this app-to-app flow, the user is deep-linked to the designated activity. Alternatively, app-to-web Handoff can be offered as a fallback option or directly implemented with URL Handoff.

Handoff support is implemented on a per-activity basis. To enable Handoff, call the setHandoffEnabled() method for the activity. Additional data may need to be passed along with the handoff so the recreated activity on the receiving device can restore appropriate state. Implement the onHandoffActivityRequested() callback to return a HandoffActivityData object which contains details that specify how Handoff should handle and recreate the activity on the receiving device.