17 Issues to know for Android builders at Google I/O

Right this moment at Google I/O, we introduced the various methods we’re powering agentic workflows to extend your productiveness and guarantee your apps shine throughout the increasing Android ecosystem. Right here’s a recap of 17 of our favourite bulletins for Android builders; you can even see what was introduced final week in The Android Present: I/O Version. Keep tuned over the subsequent two days as we dive into all the matters in additional element!

Construct Excessive High quality Android Apps Utilizing Brokers

1: Android CLI: serving to you construct with any agent, LLM, and power

Android CLI is now steady. It gives programmatic instruments that permit any AI agent, together with Claude Code, Codex, or Antigravity, to carry out core Android duties far more simply and effectively. With right now’s launch, it additionally gives a bridge to faucet immediately into the “heavy-lifting” energy of Android Studio to provide the production-ready polish wanted for skilled Android improvement. By leveraging the brand new android studio instructions, builders can now grant their most popular brokers the power to carry out semantic image decision, analyze information for warnings, and even render Jetpack Compose previews. This launch additionally allows official assist for “Journeys” by new Android expertise, which allows brokers to execute end-to-end UI exams below your path. Watch the developer keynote, and tune into the What’s New in Android instruments speak for extra data.    

Now you can simply set up Android CLI to be used with Google Antigravity 2.0.

2: Construct production-ready apps with ease in Google AI Studio

Builders and creators can now construct native Android apps, merely with a immediate in Google AI Studio. The apps are constructed with improvement finest practices like Jetpack Compose, Kotlin, and APIs that leverage our really helpful developer patterns. Google AI Studio allows builders to prototype, iterate by way of an embedded emulator, and deploy to bodily units with out heavy native installations. Builders are then capable of take these apps and share them to Android units, in addition to share them with others for testing by Google Play Console’s inner testing monitor. If a developer needs to organize their app for a wider launch, they’re capable of take it to Android Studio for superior debugging, testing, and UI polish. Watch the developer keynote, and tune into the What’s New in Android instruments speak for extra data.

3: Accelerating AI coding help with Android Bench

Android Bench is our LLM leaderboard for Android improvement challenges. The purpose is to speed up mannequin enhancements, so you’ve extra helpful choices for AI help. Lots of you’ve been utilizing open-weight fashions for AI help, so we’re now including generally used ones, corresponding to Gemma 4, to the leaderboard, so you’ll be able to see how LLMs that provide offline entry and extra flexibility for power-users measure up. We’re repeatedly engaged on rising the issue of challenges we’re giving LLMs, to proceed encouraging extra helpful enhancements. 

4: Convert iOS apps to Android with the Migration Assistant in Android Studio

The Migration Assistant in Android Studio is designed to port apps from platforms like iOS, React Native, or net frameworks to native Android. By merely deciding on an present mission, builders can have the agent intelligently map options, convert property like storyboards and SVGs, and implement Android finest practices utilizing Jetpack Compose and our really helpful Jetpack libraries. This successfully transforms what was weeks of guide porting right into a streamlined agentic workflow that solely takes hours. We shared a preview of the incoming characteristic within the developer keynote. 

A sneak peek of the Migration Assistant changing an iOS app right into a native Android app

Constructing AI Into Your Apps

5: Constructing Clever Apps with generative AI

Generative AI lets you create apps which can be extra clever, personalised, and agentic than ever earlier than. This 12 months, we launched the newest developments in on-device intelligence with a preview of Gemini Nano 4 for duties like knowledge extraction and summarization. We additionally expanded cloud capabilities by way of Firebase AI Logic, permitting builders to leverage Gemini fashions with strong grounding (together with URL, Maps, and net search) to construct smarter, extra succesful assistants. Moreover, we unveiled our hybrid inference strategy and the brand new Agent Improvement Equipment (ADK) for Android, alongside communication protocols like AG-UI and A2UI that simplify the creation of autonomous, agentic experiences. To start out integrating these highly effective options, discover the developer documentation, and watch the technical deep dive session the place we showcase all these applied sciences.

6: Experiment with AppFunctions right now

AppFunctions is an Android platform API with an accompanying Jetpack library to simplify constructing Android MCP integrations. It empowers your apps to behave like on system MCP servers, contributing capabilities that act as instruments to be used by brokers and assistants. AppFunctions integration with Gemini is at the moment in a personal preview with trusted testers, and you may start making ready your apps already. You possibly can join the Early Entry Program and begin experimenting utilizing the API steerage, pattern, and talent right now.

The Future is Adaptive

7: Android is now Compose First; Views at the moment are in upkeep mode.

Compose is our normal for UI improvement, and we’re transferring to a Compose-first strategy for all future steerage and libraries. Constructing on 5 years of evolution, the newest releases ship a extra mature toolkit, from the extremely customizable Kinds API to subtle shared factor transitions and enhanced enter assist. These updates assist you to construct stunning, adaptive apps with much less code and higher efficiency. Be taught extra about what Compose-first means for Android Improvement in our weblog put up. 

Construct Android UI with Compose

8: Constructing seamless Android experiences throughout units with Jetpack Compose

9: Create seamless experiences for Googlebook

Final week we introduced Googlebook, a high-performance laptop computer that gives a large-screen canvas to your present apps. Constructing with adaptive rules right now helps guarantee your app will work on Googlebook. Get began by reviewing related design steerage and developer tips for desktop experiences. Check out the brand new Desktop Emulator obtainable within the Android Studio Canary to to check your apps for this manner issue right now.

New Desktop Android Emulator

10: Unified widget improvement expertise with Jetpack Look

Android 17 marks a shift towards a single, Compose-based improvement mannequin for all widgets. By unifying the expertise throughout cell, Put on OS, and automobiles by Jetpack Look, you’ll be able to quickly scale UI parts throughout the ecosystem with a well-recognized workflow.

The breakthrough this 12 months is the mixing of RemoteCompose. On cell and automobiles, it powers high-fidelity animations, whereas on Put on OS, it permits Put on Widgets (previously Tiles) to render complicated UI logic natively on distant surfaces. This ensures peak efficiency on low-power {hardware} whereas permitting a cohesive consumer journey—like checking a flight standing in your automobile dashboard and seeing gate change updates in your wrist.

11: Develop your attain on the street with Android for Automobiles
That can assist you develop your attain whenever you construct in-car experiences, we’re making it simpler to construct as soon as and ship your apps to Android Auto and Android Automotive OS. With the newest releases of the Automobile App Library, you’ll be able to construct personalized, distraction-optimized templated media apps for each platforms. We’re introducing new parts and template capabilities to present you elevated flexibility and extra choices for laying out content material. Parked experiences are increasing too, with immersive video playback coming to Android Auto for telephones operating Android 17. You possibly can simply adapt your video apps for these parked experiences; apply now to the early entry program to publish in these beta classes and be taught extra concerning the newest updates in our weblog.

12: Speed up your improvement with Android XR Developer Preview 4

Impressed by the modern experiences you’ve constructed for the platform, we’re persevering with to mature our instruments with Developer Preview 4 of the Android XR SDK. A key milestone on this journey is the transition of our core libraries, XR Runtime, Jetpack SceneCore, and ARCore for Jetpack XR, transferring to Beta quickly to offer a extra steady and performant basis. We’re additionally accelerating {hardware} entry by the Android XR Developer Catalyst Program, the place you’ll be able to apply for XREAL’s Challenge Aura, audio glasses, or show glasses developer kits. Watch The newest in Android XR session or learn our weblog to see how these updates assist you construct experiences throughout the ecosystem.

Early preview of the Geospatial API in ARCore for Jetpack XR, enabling high-precision anchoring of digital content material to real-world places.

13: Android is your new residence for professional-grade media experiences

Android 17 streamlines the whole media lifecycle with a production-ready toolkit. Excessive-fidelity seize is now simplified with the CameraXViewfinder Composable, which handles complicated scaling and responsiveness on foldables and tablets. For post-production, the brand new Media3 AI Results library gives a single interface for premium options like Magic Eraser and Studio Sound, mechanically optimizing for the system’s {hardware}.

The pipeline is accomplished by CodecDB, providing chipset-specific encoding suggestions to eradicate export noise, and a brand new Scrubbing Mode in ExoPlayer for ultra-smooth searching for. Whether or not you’re compositing multi-asset edits with Media3 Transformer or utilizing the streamlined CastPlayer API, these updates guarantee a professional-grade expertise with considerably much less improvement overhead.

Low Gentle Increase and Magic Eraser in motion

14: Enhance app discovery and engagement on Google TV

Pointer remotes, which allow motion-controlled enter, can be a future approach for customers to work together with Google TV because it unlocks sooner consumer navigation. App builders can begin declaring assist for pointing enter to make sure their apps are discoverable on future TVs with pointer remotes. Moreover, the Interact SDK, previously often known as the Video Discovery API, optimizes Resumption, Entitlements, and Suggestions throughout all Google TV kind elements to spice up app discovery and engagement. It’s a good time to begin onboarding the Interact SDK now, for the reason that legacy Watch Subsequent API, which has been powering your proceed watching 1.0 expertise, will lose assist within the 2nd half of 2027. Get all the small print in our weblog.

15: Efficiency: the inspiration of a fantastic app expertise

To assist builders navigate reminiscence limits in Android 17, we have launched a set of optimization instruments. The R8 Configuration Analyzer identifies preserve guidelines which can be bloating your binary, whereas ProfilingManager and the built-in LeakCanary in Android Studio streamline reminiscence leak detection. Moreover, the brand new Android Efficiency Analyzer gives superior AI integration for complicated hint evaluation and automatic SQL question technology to pinpoint efficiency bottlenecks.     

And The Newest on Driving Enterprise Progress 

16: What’s new in Google Play

Right this moment’s updates from Google Play assist develop your attain and scale what you are promoting with much less complexity. We’re redefining Play Retailer discovery with an immersive, short-form video format referred to as Play Shorts, whereas increasing your viewers past the shop with app discovery within the Gemini app on Android and net. Plus, we’re introducing highly effective new capabilities like agentic catalog administration for seamless bulk worth and SKU updates, and utilizing Gemini fashions to allow Play Console to pre-populate retailer listings from imported paperwork—making international localization easy.

Gemini will present customers with app strategies throughout a search

17: And naturally, Android 17

Android 17 contains new efficiency & system structure enhancements (along with app reminiscence limits) like a lock-free MessageQueue and a GC with extra frequent, much less intensive young-generation collections to make sure system-wide stability and smoother UIs. The brand new contact picker and eyedropper API assist reduce the usage of delicate permissions and pointless entry to consumer knowledge.

Evaluate the conduct modifications to ensure your app is prepared for Android 17, together with background audio hardening and SMS OTP safety. Get able to goal Android 17 (API 37) with modifications corresponding to obligatory large-screen resizability, certificates transparency by default, and restricted native community entry. You can begin testing right now by enrolling your system within the Beta or utilizing the newest 17.0 emulator photographs.

Yet another factor. the third beta of our Android 17 quarterly platform launch (QPR1) simply got here out, and it comprises a minor SDK launch to assist a number of options that simply could not anticipate QPR2.

Take a look at all the Android & Play Content material at Google I/O 

This was only a preview of among the updates for Android builders at Google I/O. Tune into What’s New in Android for the newest information and bulletins and comply with Google I/O for far more over the next week!