Android 17 likely to come with blurred UI elements, revamped screen recorder, and more

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• Android 17 may feature new blur effects similar to iOS 26 Liquid Glass design
• Screen recording interface could get a lighter floating pill design
• Release expected around June 2025, following Android 16's timeline

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Google is likely to release Android’s next major operating system, Android 17, in the coming months. Ahead of its formal announcement, a new report has revealed alleged images of the OS, with one of the most noticeable changes in Android 17 being the new blur effect applied to system UI elements. This translucent design in the background looks quite similar to Liquid Glass in iOS 26, showcasing blur effects across most parts of the system interface. Further, the screenshots also suggest that Android 17 may also get a redesigned screen recording interface.

Android 17: Expected visual changes, release timeline

According to screenshots shared in a 9To5Google report, Android 17 will get new blur effects across parts of the system UI, improving its visual design. This would allow the volume slider to appear translucent, showcasing the wallpaper of the device in a blurred manner. A similar treatment is also apparently applied to the expanded volume panel and power menu, where app icons are also visible.

If this design is indeed adopted by Google for Android 17, this blur effect is likely to mimic Apple’s iOS 26 Liquid Glass design. Reportedly, the screen recording tool is also getting a major overhaul, as instead of the current pop-up menu, the Android 17 UI uses a lighter floating pill design, while keeping the Quick Settings pane visible in the background. Moreover, if users select ‘Entire screen,’ options such as recording device audio, microphone input, and showing touch indicators will be visible within the pill.

Android 17 might also introduce a new ‘Lock app’ option when long-pressing an app icon. We might also get separate cellular data and Wi-Fi options, which would be a big change from the clubbed mobile data and Wi-Fi toggle introduced with Android 16. If we follow the Android 16 release timeline, Google unveiled it in June 2025, and it is possible that now Google may stick to a similar timeline rather than going back to the September or October timeframe, which it did with Android 13 and 14.