The Android Show returns next week and you "won't believe what's next" – here's what to expect

Google has confirmed that The Android Show is returning with a special Google I/O edition. It should give us some juicy details on what's next for Android ahead of I/O itself.

In 2025, The Android Show served as a way for Google to showcase some big parts of Android that it didn't want slowing down the main keynote. That included a reveal of Material 3 Expressive, the new design language for Android 16.

A short teaser video for The Android Show: I/O Edition sets the date for 12 May at 10am PT (6pm BST), before Google I/O kicks off on 19 May and we're expecting to hear a lot more about Android 17's new features.

The content of the teaser video has raised some concerns, however. It shows the green droid jumping around and pulling a light switch. It then appears to turn transparent, a visual that's being used elsewhere in I/O teasers.

Don’t miss The Android Show | I/O Edition on May 12 - YouTube

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That has led some to think that Google might be about to implement a "liquid glass" effect like Apple, although that's been flatly refuted by Sameer Samat, Google's president of Android. Replying on X, Samat confirmed that it was "not happening".

What we might see is increased transparency, in keeping with what we see in a number of third-party skins on Android. Others have suggested that it might be something to do with jelly animations instead.

What might Google announce at The Android Show?

Samat said to expect the "Biggest. Android. Updates. Ever", without revealing exactly what that might be. But there's plenty that we're expecting.

It's been said that new widgets, new home screen customisation, transparency and multi-tasking bubbles could be introduced. The latter is common on other Android brands, allowing any app to pop-out into a window for multi-tasking.

Personally, on a smartphone, I find that windowed use doesn't help because there's not enough space, but with Google's focus on larger screens, that could be a useful native feature.

That might go hand-in-hand with a proper desktop mode to rival Samsung DeX, again making big screen Android use better.

Talking of bigger screens, we've previously heard Samat talking about the advent of the Android PC, likely as a post-Chrome device. Aluminium OS is thought to bring Chrome OS onto the Android technology stack – and mostly to benefit from the AI gains that have boosted Android.

Talking about AI, the move to make Gemini a proper agentic AI platform has been talked about for a long time, but really hasn't come to fruition yet. We also know that Google wants Android to have more automations, powered by AI, for a smarter user experience.

I'm expecting to hear a lot about Gemini at Google I/O – whether Google would use The Android Show as a warm-up for agentic AI remains to be seen.