GoKawiilThe Google I/O annual developer conference is around the corner—May 19—but in what is quickly becoming a tradition, Google announced new features for Android and Gemini a week early.
The news came on Tuesday via the second-ever Android Show on YouTube. This livestreamed presentation helps Google spread out the cavalcade of updates from the often jam-packed I/O keynote.
The Android Show focused on new features in Android 17, the next version of Android coming later this summer, as well as several updates to the Gemini assistant experience. It continues the theme set last year by Sameer Samat, president of the Android ecosystem, of turning Android into an “intelligent operating system.” Samat and his team aim to do this by adding a host of new AI-powered features to the mobile OS, including a generative AI widget-creation tool and an improved voice-to-text model that uses AI to cut those “ums” and “ahs” as you speak.
What if you don't want AI baked into your phone? “A user always has control,” says Mindy Brooks, vice president of product management on the Gemini Intelligence experience. “They can turn it off, they can make a choice, and we are very clear about providing those tools for them to make the choices that work for them. We really wanted to focus on bringing features that are aligned with what users are saying they want and need.”
Here's everything you need to know about what was announced during the 2026 Android Show. And if you want to learn more about the newly announced Googlebook platform for laptops, we've got you covered here.
Gemini Intelligence
Google is officially packaging many of the new Gemini features it introduced on flagship smartphones in recent months as “Gemini Intelligence,” which brings the best of Gemini to some of the most advanced devices on the market. That means many of these features aren't necessarily tied to Android 17, and will roll out in waves starting with Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones this summer, as well as smartwatches, cars, smart glasses, and laptops later in the year.
There's a new visual indicator when Gemini is “thinking” and working on your behalf, and you'll see these visuals pop up throughout the operating system.
Multi-Step Tasks
Courtesy of Google
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