Google postponed the release of the latest Android beta just an hour after announcing it was available. We don't know why.
I wasn't feeling well on Wednesday when Google announced the Android 17 Beta. I'd written the news based on information I'd seen beforehand, then scheduled it to go live on Android Faithful. Nearly three hours later, upon waking from a nap, I checked my phone and found a message from Ron letting me know he had changed my piece.
Google retracted the Android 17 Beta after announcing its availability. The accompanying Android Developers blog post and other essential developer documentation did not go live as Google had previewed to us beforehand, either. The company has still not disclosed the cause of the delay.
The theory floating around is that a bug fix is needed before Google re-releases the update in a week or two. Typically, Google releases software updates on Wednesdays, and there are still two left in February, so it remains on schedule within the Android update timeline. For now, all we know is that the Android 17 Beta status is "coming soon."
Maybe Google doesn't want to publicly admit there are still kinks to work out between the newly christened Canary Channel and the public-facing Beta. Google may even push the update after I've scheduled this newsletter, thus rendering this week's edition useless. The point is that none of us can know for certain what tomorrow holds. All we can hope is that the things we read about come true; otherwise, there's nothing else to distract us from what is essentially another day for you and me in paradise.
The next three weeks will be a whirlwind of hardware announcements. We're expecting Google to reveal the Pixel 10a. Then, Samsung follows up with its Unpacked event in San Francisco, where it will reveal the Galaxy S26 family. And then, it's Mobile World Congress, where we expect to see a couple more Android devices launch. Plenty of distractions indeed!
There was so much going on in the show this week. Ron, Jason, Huyen, and Flo reunite to discuss news from Samsung's event and why it's nice that Android now has AirDrop access.
