Android 15 is here in AOSP version and will arrive on Pixels in the coming weeks

After a long beta program, Android 15 is official, at least in its open source or AOSP versionThe Android 15 version for the Pixels will still have to wait until “the next few weeks”, coinciding with previous leaks that it would be released in October.

Google is caught off guard again with the launch of Android 15: just as it happened with Android 12 in the middle of the pandemic, Google has opted to release the Android 15 source code firstwhich is now complete. Google’s Android 15, which is coming to the Pixels, is pending for the next few weeks.

Android 15 is official but only its code

Android 15 is here, but that doesn’t mean you can install it on any phone. In fact, the only way you would have to install it would be to compile it from its source code, something that is not available to everyone. What Google has done is release the Android 15 code in its AOSP versionThe code is now available in the AOSP repositories.

With the code released, Android 15 is finalized and it is up to each mobile brand to make the appropriate modifications to adapt it to their terminals. This includes Google, which has announced that will launch Android 15 for the Pixels in the coming weekswhile Samsung, Honor, iQOO, Lenovo, Motorola, Nothing, OnePlus, Oppo, realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, vivo and Xiaomi mobile phones will receive it “in the coming months.”

We have reached the end of the journey that began in February

This version of Android brings new APIs for developers, improvements in fonts and internationalization, improvements in camera management and new features, such as the following ones highlighted by Google:

• Users can save their favorite split-screen app combinations for quick access and pin the taskbar to the screen to quickly switch between apps and better multitask on devices with large displays.
• Android 15 displays apps edge-to-edge by default when targeting SDK 35. Additionally, system bars will be transparent or translucent and content will be drawn behind them by default.
• Android 15 enables TalkBack to support braille displays that use the HID standard over USB and secure Bluetooth to help Android support a wider range of braille displays.
• On supported Android 15 devices, NfcAdapter allows apps to request observer mode, as well as registration filters, enabling single-tap transactions in many cases across multiple NFC-enabled apps.
• Android 15 greatly improves AutomaticZenRules to allow apps to further customize attention management (Do Not Disturb) rules by adding trigger types, icons, descriptions, and the ability to enable ZenDeviceEffects.
• Android 15 now includes OS-level support for archiving and unarchived apps. Archiving removes the APK and any cached files, but preserves user data and returns the app as discoverable via LauncherApps APIs, and can be restored by the original installer upon an unarchive request.
• Foreground services are changing in Android 15 as part of our work to improve battery life and multitasking performance, including data sync timeouts, a new media processing foreground service type, and restrictions on starting foreground services from BOOT_COMPLETED and while an app has the SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW permission.
• Starting with Android 15, support for a 16KB page size will be available on select devices as an option for developers. When Android uses this larger page size, our initial testing shows an overall performance increase of 5-10% while using about 9% additional memory.
• Private Space in Android 15 allows users to create a separate space on their device where they can keep sensitive apps away from prying eyes, under an additional layer of authentication.

• Android 15 supports one-tap login with passcodes, as well as support for auto-filling saved credentials into relevant input fields.
• Android 15 adds support for apps to detect that they are being recorded so you can notify the user that they are being recorded if your app is performing a sensitive operation.
• Android 15 adds the allowCrossUidActivitySwitchFromBelow attribute that prevents apps that do not match the top UID in the stack from launching activities to help prevent task hijacking attacks.
• The creators of PendingIntent block background activity launches by default in Android 15 to help prevent apps from accidentally creating a PendingIntent that could be abused by malicious actors.

As we mentioned before, what Google has released is the open source version of Android 15 that does not include Google’s own changes on top. The “standard” Android 15, at least in the West, is still It will take a few more weeks to arrive.

More information | Android Developers