Android 17 Beta 2 brings support for "app bubbles" with floating windows that don't take up the full screen, a new system level contact picker, easier pointer capture when using a device with a touchpad, and a cross-device handoff API. https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/02/the-second-beta-of-android-17.html #Android17 #Android #GoogleAndroid #Android17Beta2
**Keep Android Open**
"In August 2025, Google announced that as of September 2026, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google."
#Android #FOSS #OpenSource #FreeAndOpendOpenSourceSoftware #FLOSS #FreeAndLibreOpenSourceSoftware #Android16 #Android17 #phone #phones #FDroid #OSS
Google has released android 17 Beta 1 with camera and media "enhancements" and "new tools for optimizing connectivity." 9to5Google is also rounding up other visible changes to the next version of Google's mobile OS. https://9to5google.com/2026/02/13/android-17-beta-1-everything-new/ #Android17 #Android #Google
esim hotswap - can we make esim hot swapping between iPhone and Android a regular thing? With zero carrier involvement - just like regular sim swapping allows.
Regular sim card hot swapping between multiple devices requires zero carrier involvement.
Esims are supposed to be "the future" and "better". Until esim supports hot swapping back and forth and iPhone and Android and vice versa on a daily basis, as much as we want, I don't think it's true.
Some might say this involves carriers but I kind of disagree and think Apple and Google should take a leadership role here and *bring* this ability *to* carriers. Make the front end and back end technology so easy that carriers will support it. And eventually require them to do so.