In last week’s Android Canary update, Google has added a redesigned screen recording menu to today’s Android 17 Beta 3, paving the way for a stable version later this year. The cylindrical screen recording menu first appeared in 9to5Google’s Android 17 leaks, and now users can try it out without having to risk the unstable Google Canary channel.
The tool appears to be unchanged from when it first went live last week, but if this is your first exposure to Android’s new screen recording interface, you’ll be pleasantly surprised, as it’s a big upgrade. While the screen recording feature is still located in Quick Settings, once you click on the icon, the rest of the tool has been redesigned and streamlined. Android still records the entire screen by default, but users can also select individual apps from a drop-down menu.
Interestingly, when I first tried Google’s new screen recording tool on Android 17, I was asked to first open the individual app I wanted to capture. However, I can then select “Individual Apps” directly from the home screen and be able to select what I want to capture from the card-based UI. After pressing the record button, the system will open the previously selected app and start timing recording.
Like the Android Canary version of the tool, users can open the recording menu at any time through the “Live Update” selection in the upper left corner of the device. After stopping recording, a playback preview interface will be displayed, allowing users to quickly edit, share, delete or start a new recording from four buttons. Unfortunately, like last week’s version, this one is still missing the drawing tools that first appeared in a leaked screenshot back in January.
With the launch of Beta 3, Android 17 has now entered the platform stable phase, making now a good time to join Google’s early release program if you haven’t already. While everyday users may still want to consider this cautiously if they are concerned about the occasional bug, we are one step closer to a full release.
