Android 15 is under development and we’ve already received two developer previews. Both of these were fairly small updates, but with improvements to the quality of life on the platform, and now we have our first beta version of Android 15. Like the previous developer versions, this is a fairly small update, but there is probably a lot more to come.
The most notable features of Android 15 beta 1 include:
- Improvements on devices with large screens: Apps targeting Android 15 will now be full-screen by default, so developers no longer have to use additional methods to display their content outside the system trays. This means they will have transparent notifications and status bars.
- Performance optimization: Android 15 now has support for archiving and unarchiving applications at the operating system level so that users can free up space on their devices for rarely used applications while preserving their data.
- Communication improvements: Android TalkBack will now work with braille displays that use Human Interface Devices (HID) via USB and Bluetooth to improve accessibility.
- Privacy and Security: This beta version offers an OS-level API for end-to-end encryption of contact keys so that users can securely manage and verify other people’s contact information.
For Android updates, Google usually reports “platform stability” so that developers know when Google plans to release the final SDK/NDK APIs, as well as the final internal APIs and system behaviour related to app performance. Google intends to reach platform stability in June 2024, and the official release is at least “several months” away. The stability of the Android 14 platform was reached in June 2023, and the final version was released in October of the same year with the Pixel 8 series. Google has released more detailed information about the release schedule, which you can check out.
If you’re expecting big changes in this update, we’re afraid you won’t get them. Aside from changes for developers to support larger screens, better app archiving, and improved braille support, there’s only one major change, and that’s end-to-end encryption. Google introduced E2eeContactKeysManager in Android 15, which provides an OS-level API for storing cryptographic keys on your smartphone. It works with the platform’s Contacts application for centralized management of your contacts’ public keys.
Also, the first Android 15 beta is for enthusiasts who want to try Android 15 for the first time. It’s still not necessarily stable, but you can use it on any current Google Pixel. This includes the Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 8, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 7, Pixel 7a, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6, Pixel Tablet, and Pixel Fold.
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