Summary
- Android 17 hits Pixels with the release of the June Pixel Drop, rolling out today to supported phones and tablets.
- Screen Reactions make it easier to record reactions, while Bubbles allows for faster, smoother multitasking.
- Gemini Omni and Lyria 3 enable on-device AI videos and music and Wear OS 7 adds Live Updates and battery gains.
After months of beta releases and teasing new features, June’s Pixel Drop finally brings the release of Android 17 to Pixel devices along with multiple new features like Screen Reactions, the ability to multitask more easily with app Bubbles, and even more advanced AI features that will let you create AI-generated videos and music tracks directly on your smartphone. To make things even more enticing for those waiting to upgrade, this drop also marks the official release of Wear OS 7, which brings several useful new features directly to your wrist.
Google just dropped a major Android update — here are the best new features to know
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Screen Reactions and Bubbles
Multitasking gets another upgrade
One of the most useful upgrades coming to Android 17 with the latest Pixel Drop is the introduction of two key features: Screen Reactions and Bubbles. Screen Reactions is an expansion of your phone’s built-in screen recorder, and it will allow you to automatically overlay your selfie camera footage over your screen so that you can react to content in real-time. The system uses AI to create a custom green screen behind your video, similar to how Google Meet does it.
Bubbles, on the other hand, looks like a small change on paper but it brings a lot of big energy behind it. This feature will allow you to create little icons that float above other apps, making it a huge multitasking upgrade that is coming to all Android 17 Pixel phones and folds. Google says that you can easily turn apps like your calendar, browser, and messages into little floating bubbles that appear over your main screen, allowing you to quickly pull them up.
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Bubbles is very reminiscent of some of the multitasking features we’ve seen for Google Messages and even Facebook Messenger, which have bubbles that appear for conversation threads you can easily tap into at any point. However, unlike those conversation threads, it looks like the new Bubbles feature will launch full-fledged iterations of the app instead, allowing you to easily swap between them. This expands even more with the Bubbles Bar on Pixel foldables, which will allow you to keep a series of applications on your screen at all times.
Android 17 is all about the AI
A story that’s becoming old as time
The release of a new version of Android is exciting for several reasons. Not only does this mean we’ll finally start to see other companies working on their versions of Android 17 more publicly — Samsung is already doing so with One UI 9, but it also means those of us who own phones like the Google Pixel 10 now have even more things to brag about to our friends.
Perhaps the biggest AI additions coming to Android 17 and Pixel phones with the June Pixel Drop are Gemini Omni and Lyria 3. These two AI models will now provide you with even more ways to use the Gemini app and your smartphone to create AI-generated music and videos. Gemini Omni will require you to have a Google AI subscription, but will let you prompt Gemini to create full-fledged videos, though some limitations that Google didn’t outline in its announcement may apply. With Lyria 3, you can use text prompts or even images to create original AI-generated tracks. The system will also allow you to customize them and change settings like tempo, vocal levels, and more.
Other additions include the expansion of AI features like Edit Photos, Voice Translate, Manual Call Screen, and Magic Cue across different apps and regions. Android’s upgraded Quick Share feature that lets it share photos from an Android phone more easily with Apple’s AirDrop is also coming to the Pixel 9a and Pixel 8a.
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There is, of course, so much more to Android 17 than just these features. And so far, we’ve seen some exceptionally useful tricks included in what Google has showcased. It has even made some Pixels feel new thanks to its different features and changes. The update will begin rolling out today, June 16, 2026, and it will be available on all currently supported Pixel phones and tablets.
Wear OS 7 brings new Live Updates and more device control to your fingertips
Oh, and even more Gemini, too
On top of the additional features coming to Android 17, those of us rocking Android smartphones and smartwatches also have the release of Wear OS 7 to look forward. Arriving on Pixel Watches starting today, the new update will bring Live Updates directly to your wrist, allowing you to keep up with your latest food order or the score of this weekend’s big game.
The ability to control your connected devices more easily is also a big component of the update. With Wear OS 7, you’ll be able to directly review photos taken from smart glasses on your watch display, as well as manage your media controls more easily across your various devices. Google also says that “deep, system-level power optimizations” will also help the Pixel Watch battery last longer on a single charge, and the arrival of Gemini Intelligence will help make your watch’s assistant “genuinely yours.”