Fresh leaks from Android 17’s Canary build suggest that Google is actively working on how notifications behave for locked apps. According to a new Android Authority report, notifications from apps protected by the operating system’s native app lock feature will still appear, but without the key information.
For instance, if someone has locked WhatsApp, and there’s a new message while your phone is sleeping, a new notification from the app should still show up on the device (either on the lock screen or as a bubble at the top of the screen), but the message and the chat shouldn’t be visible.
A system-level approach to app locking in Android 17
In other words, the notification’s contents should remain hidden unless you unlock WhatsApp, or any other app for that matter. While it’s not immediately clear whether the name of the locked app will appear, other OEMs do include the name, and I believe Google could follow suit.
This builds on earlier discoveries about Android 17’s native App Lock API, indicating that Google is finally working (seriously) on a system-level way to lock individual apps without installing third-party apps or custom launchers (whose implementations vary widely across devices).
As and when the feature arrives, it should be deeply integrated into the Android operating system, allowing apps to be locked manually or automatically and requiring biometric authentication for unlocking them. The native app lock should standardize privacy controls across the platform.
I can see the feature coming in handy for banking, messaging, or work-related apps that contain sensitive or private information. If you’ve ever handed your stock Android or Pixel phone to someone for a second and immediately regretted it, the native app lock is for you.
The App Lock API is still under development. Google has neither officially announced it nor teased the feature. However, it is evolving steadily behind the doors. If the company continues working on it at the same pace, Android 17 should have its own native app-locking system at launch for Pixel smartphones and other OEMs that equip their handsets with the operating system’s stock version.