Android 17 may add full-screen apps to always-on display

Android 17 offers the always-on display with much more to do than displaying a clock and a few icons. Code buried deep within Android SystemUI gives the ever-relevant lock screen a new feature, which may informally be called Min Mode.

This new feature is a useful coping mechanism, allowing apps to make their own super-minimal, full-screen layouts on top of the always-on display layer without awakening the phone entirely. If implemented as planned, the lock screen turns into a blank canvas for low-energy but persistent experiences such as navigation arrows, timers, or media control dials.

Min Mode turns the lock screen into a low-power canvas

Inside the new Min Mode, references found in recent Android Canary versions reveal it as an activity that lives inside the SystemUI always-on code path; clearly not a replacement but a kind of parallel mode.

Min Mode uses the same ultra-low-power display state as the standard AOD, with limitations on brightness, color depth, and refresh rate maintained to save power. Min Mode does not typically display a watch face; instead, it provides a full-screen view to an activity from a foreground-running app.

How apps could integrate with SystemUI Min Mode

Apps seemingly declare a special MinModeActivity in the manifest and cooperate with a SystemUI MinModeProvider to request activation when the screen defaults to off. The system then displays that full-screen interface while administering burn-in prevention: slight shifts every so often—maybe a single pixel—and padding to keep static elements away from the edges, primarily every sixty seconds.

Importantly, Min Mode is application-aware. It checks which app was active before the display slept and only invokes the AOD experience that app has explicitly prepared. If nothing qualifies, the phone falls back to the standard AOD view.

Battery impact and display tech enable low-power AOD

Running anything on an AOD raises the specter of battery drain, but the ingredients are in Android’s favor. Modern OLED and LTPO panels can drop to extremely low refresh rates—often around 1 Hz—during always-on states, and briefs from Samsung Display and others describe AOD power draw in the tens of milliwatts.

In real-world terms, many phones see single-digit daily battery impact from AOD with static content, though behavior varies by OEM tuning and ambient brightness. Because Min Mode reuses the same low-power pipeline, a well-designed, mostly static interface should stay frugal. That means monochrome palettes, sparse layouts, and minimal animation.

With OLED now on a majority of new smartphones globally—analysts such as Omdia have reported OLED crossing the 50% share threshold—hardware support for efficient AOD features is no longer niche. Maps are a clear early target for glanceable experiences. Evidence points to Google Maps preparing a stripped-back, monochrome guidance view designed for portrait orientation and triggerable via the power button. That aligns neatly with AOD limitations and suggests a Min Mode tie-in for turn-by-turn prompts without the bright, battery-hungry full UI.

Potential use cases include maps, timers, and media controls

Beyond maps, developers could deliver glanceable ride-share ETAs, transit countdowns, delivery trackers, sports scores, or Pomodoro timers that persist while the phone sleeps. Media apps, too, might pin basic play/pause and progress indicators. The system will still need to respect lock-screen privacy: expect coarse information and opt-in behavior, with sensitive details masked until authentication.

• Ride-share ETAs and delivery trackers
• Transit countdowns and sports scores
• Pomodoro and other simple timers
• Minimal media controls and progress indicators

What developers should know about building for Min Mode

The code breadcrumbs suggest a formal API arriving with Android 17 to let apps declare a MinModeActivity and negotiate with SystemUI. Constraints will likely include portrait-only layouts, strict content budgets, and burn-in-safe design guidance. Expect guardrails around wake locks, network use, and sensor access to keep power draw predictable.

Google typically reserves new platform APIs for major releases rather than quarterly platform updates, which supports the Android 17 timeframe. If the feature follows that usual cadence, documentation and samples would hit developer previews, giving teams time to build AOD-friendly interfaces that degrade gracefully on older devices.

How Min Mode compares to iOS and wearable experiences

Min Mode reads like Android’s answer to a blend of iOS Live Activities and StandBy; it’s built to run in a truly always-on state, not just while charging on a dock. It also borrows the spirit of watchOS and Wear OS complications—bite-size, persistent data at a glance—without forcing users onto a wearable.

The bottom line on Android 17’s always-on Min Mode

If it comes out as intended, Min Mode should turn the always-on display from being passive wallpaper to an active surface dedicated to providing quick, actionable context, all while being miserly on power. Pixel phones should give you a first look at it, and OEMs might broaden it with their own design vocabulary, but the big win will be third-party apps embracing it en masse through a simple, well-documented API in Android 17.