Google continues to work to improve the screen view and screen recording experience on the Android operating system. With the Android 17 QPR1 Beta 3 version, previously unknown partial screenshot features have become available by default.

These new capabilities provide valuable convenience, especially for users of large screen devices. It is now possible to record a specific window, a specifically selected area or the entire screen via the updated screen recording toolbar.

New options for large screen devices

The new screen recording toolbar offers users three different options when taking screenshots.

Users can capture the selected window in split-screen mode, a specifically designated area, or directly the entire screen.

This feature also applies to apply balloons, allowing only the selection within the balloon to be saved. In addition, a similar operation is expected to be supported for windowed applications on Aluminum OS.

Not ready for phones now

The partial screen capture feature currently only works stably on large screen devices. Forcibly enabling the feature on phones results in a large toolbar interface that is not optimized for the screen size and looks inaccurate.

Although the partial screen capture function technically works on phones, the interface needs to be adapted to small screens. It is possible that this interface problem will be solved with future updates and the feature will be fully available on phones.

On the other hand, the partial screen recording feature is not enabled by default now. Users currently have the option to record only an active window or the entire screen.

Google is expected to make this feature available in future versions.

What do you think about these new screenshot options that come with Android 17?