- Google has confirmed that several new Android 17 features are on the way
- However, three of the most anticipated updates were not announced
- Polling 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.
Before the Android Show, where Google confirmed several new features and improvements like 3D emojis and ‘Screen Reactions’, speculation had built around several unannounced Android 17 tools discovered in beta versions by code diggers.
From a visual redesign to a new home screen customization tool, there seemed to be some evidence to suggest that these new Android 17 features would be announced during the showcase.
As expected, we got a visual refresh in a roundabout way with Material 3 Expressive, which builds on the Android 12 design update Material You with more dynamic colors and responsive animations. But that stopped shortly after the Liquid Glass-eque redesign some leaks had hinted at.
The rumored home screen customization tool also appeared, but in a different form than expected. While Google didn’t technically announce this, it did unveil a new Create My Widget tool that 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 these features were among the least expected.
The most exciting new Android 17 features
Of the new Android 17 features and upgrades announced during the event, Gemini Intelligence is perhaps the biggest reveal, as it upgrades Gemini to be far more capable, making it more of an agent AI assistant.
Given how powerful AI was across many of Android’s new additions, it’s hardly surprising that 46% of TechRadar readers said Gemini Intelligence was the upgrade they were most excited to try.
It’s also a long way, as only 20% of readers surveyed were most interested in the new range of 3D emojis, while 19% were excited about the speech-to-text translation tool, Rambler. Features like Pause Point, which helps manage screen time, new creator tools like Screen Reactions and Gemini integration in Chrome ranked among the least expected.
What do we expect to see announced at Google I/O?
With Google I/O starting today, we expect Google to give Gemini Intelligence an extra push to better showcase some of its potential use cases, including its new agentic AI assistant, called Remy.
There’s also a good chance Google could show off more AI-infused hardware, including the already announced Googlebook laptops, Google Home Speaker, and Android XR smart glasses.
Let us know which of these rumored products and services you’re most excited to try by voting in the poll below. And if there’s anything we haven’t mentioned, be sure to let us know by leaving a comment.
Want to tune in to Google I/O 2026? See our how-to guide for everything you need to know. And be sure to also follow our coverage as we report on the event, which starts at 10:00am PT / 1:00pm ET / 6:00pm BST on May 19 or 03:00 AEST on 20 May.
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