Google Android 17 will hide your private messages from prying eyes - no one will see them

Google is set to give Android 17 a new privacy feature to keep your data safe. The native "App Lock" tool will get an upgrade that blocks sensitive text in notifications. This feature will stop people from viewing your notification. If the app is locked, an alert for a message will reflect. But, even if you forget your phone on your desk, your colleagues won't be able to view the message.

The new feature comes after a review of Android 17’s system code. Two new fields, app_locked_new_notification and app_locked_notification_message, were found in the code. These show that Google is testing ways to hide sensitive content while still letting users know an alert exists, with the goal of giving full control over what appears in the notification bar without missing any updates.

The system will use different ways to hide content based on the app type. For messaging apps like Google Messages, when a user locks the app, any new private message will show only the words “New message” in the notification bar. The sender and the message itself will remain hidden. For other apps that are not used for chat, the notification will simply read “New notification,” giving no clue about the content. This helps keep private information safe while still alerting the user to new events or updates.

At this stage, it is not clear whether the app icon or name will be hidden, though other phone makers often keep both so users can see which app sent the alert.

Google is likely to do the same, showing the source but hiding the content, to strike a balance between privacy and ease of use.

This update is based on a code check of the Android 17 system and shows how the new tool may work, as it is part of the current test phase and may not look the same in the final release.

Users can now gain more control over private data and reduce the risk of sensitive info being seen by others, as Android 17’s improved App Lock will help keep messages, photos, and other private files safe, making phones more secure in daily use.