Android 17 Beta 2 is choosing up a safety trick from Chrome OS

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TL;DR

Android 17 Beta 2 begins implementing help for proscribing how Thunderbolt or USB4 units entry system reminiscence. Similar to on Chrome OS, that entry could possibly be restricted by default, and require customers to particularly grant it. Android’s Superior Safety Mode might limit your potential to override the limitation.

Android is already much more than only a cellular OS, and has discovered success within the house by Android TV. However the platform’s growth onto new machine sorts is actually solely simply getting began, and possibly essentially the most thrilling space for its growth now could be onto desktop and laptop computer computer systems. Aluminium OS teases a brand new Android-powered manner for us to compute, and Pixel customers in all places are already attempting out Android’s Desktop Mode. We’re choosing up a brand new whiff of Android’s growing desktop-ification as we proceed to dig by all of the adjustments current in Android 17 Beta 2.

Assembly the wants of desktop laptop customers requires supporting much more {hardware} than a cellphone alone would possibly have to — and that features connectivity choices, as nicely. Excessive-speed wired interfaces are nonetheless king, and in Android 17 Beta 2 we will see Google engaged on Android help for one thing Chromebooks already supply: The power to restrict how Thunderbolt or USB4 units entry system reminiscence.

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<img class="e_Ag" decoding="async" loading="lazy" sizes="9.375rem" title="google preferred source badge light@2x" srcset="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/google_preferred_source_badge_light@2x.png 676w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/google_preferred_source_badge_light@2x-64w-20h.png 64w" alt="google preferred source badge light@2x" src="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/google_preferred_source_badge_light@2x.png"/><img class="e_Ag" decoding="async" loading="lazy" sizes="9.375rem" title="google preferred source badge dark@2x" srcset="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x.png 676w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x-64w-20h.png 64w" alt="google preferred source badge dark@2x" src="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/google_preferred_source_badge_dark@2x.png"/> By default, Chrome OS restricts the flexibility of units related over Thunderbolt or USB4 from getting direct reminiscence entry. That sort of permission represents lots of publicity from a safety standpoint, so Google suggests you permit this off besides with trusted units and when there’s an actual efficiency penalty from not utilizing it.

Nicely, don’t look now, however with Android 17 Beta 2, we’re beginning to see the identical kind of entry restriction being constructed into Android.

Code

Copy TextData entry safety Enable USB and Thunderbolt units to entry system reminiscence straight for max {hardware} speeds. Observe: This poses a safety danger, so solely join units you belief. Similar to on Chrome OS, Android can also be getting ready for enterprise instruments for IT admins to have the ability to management that possibility throughout a fleet of units.

Code

Copy TextDisabled by your IT admin Code

Copy TextDisabled by Superior Safety Mode Google appears to be constructing that out on a couple of fronts these days, and simply earlier immediately we shared with you the way Superior Safety was including new WebGPU restrictions within the identify of safety.

Proper now, even Android 17 Beta 2 testers received’t see this new possibility on their Pixel telephones — for the second, we’re solely discovering these code references. However when it’s lastly able to go stay, it appears like Google may make the setting seen on the identical USB Preferences display screen you see when setting file switch choices.

⚠️ An APK teardown helps predict options that will arrive on a service sooner or later based mostly on work-in-progress code. Nonetheless, it's potential that such predicted options might not make it to a public launch.