Google appears to be developing a major evolution for the Always-On Display (AOD) in Android 17, codenamed “Min Mode.” This new feature, discovered in the code of the Android Canary 2510 release, would allow apps to display their own persistent, full-screen, minimal interfaces on the AOD, replacing the standard clock and notifications.
According to Android Authority, Min Mode is not a replacement for the AOD but a separate state. It uses the same ultra-low-power display settings—limited brightness, refresh rate, and color—to conserve battery. When a user’s screen times out while a compatible app is running, the system can transition to that app’s Min Mode interface instead of the default AOD. To prevent screen burn-in, the system is designed to shift every pixel by one position every 60 seconds.
This feature would essentially enable richer, persistent live activities on Android. Google Maps is expected to be one of the first apps to utilize it. Evidence suggests Google Maps is developing an “extremely minimalist power-saving mode” that is monochrome and strips away almost all UI elements to show low-power, turn-by-turn navigation.
This new Maps mode is directly linked to the system-level Min Mode, as its code includes a “MinModeActivity” and checks if the feature is enabled. The mode is also restricted to portrait orientation, matching the limitations of the AOD. An illustration for the feature, which suggests it’s activated by pressing the power button, also aligns with the act of putting the phone into its AOD state.
The Min Mode feature is currently disabled at the system level and is expected to be introduced as a new developer API in next year’s Android 17 release.
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