As we head into the latter half of February, Google has finally announced the Android 15 Developer preview, the first in a series of previews before the full Android 15 release later this year.
The Android 15 developer preview is full of a number of new features, with the focus again on ‘Protecting user privacy and security’ says Android VP Dave Burke.
In Android 15, Google will focus on improving areas including the Privacy Sandbox – an area that silos your data from other apps, and users. Files on your device will be secure, as well with a new FileSystem Integrity check which uses the ‘power of the fs-verity feature in the Linux kernel’ to check the integrity of files, including securing them with a cryptographic key.
Personal data will be protected with a new Partial Screen Sharing feature, that will allow you to ‘share or record just an app window rather than the entire device screen’.
As well as security and privacy features, we’ll be seeing more health, and ‘creator’ focused updates in Android 15 – and of course, a focus on Performance and Quality.
On the health side, we’ll be seeing some improvements to the Health Connect dashboard, introduced in Android 14 last year. In Android 15, Health Connect will gain support for new data types across fitness, nutrition, and more.
Creators will get more control over the camera, including boosts to camera previews, as well as changing the intensity of the flash. Music Creators will also be able to get access to the new Virtual Midi 2.0, which will behave just as a physical USB-connected option.
Performance and Quality of Android will be getting an overhaul. Most of this will be under the hood, with improvements to developer tools, but we will see Dynamic Performance improve. Android 15 will add power efficiency modes for GPU and CPU, allowing for better management of the processor and improved thermal management – basically, your games and apps run better on the hardware.
The Android 15 Developer preview is now available for Pixel 6, 7, or 8 series devices, as well as the Pixel Tablet, and if you imported one – the Pixel Fold. You’ll see a point release next month ahead of a Beta release in April – likely ahead of Google I/O where we’ll see more information on full release of Android 15.
