11 Android 15 Features to Power Your Smartphone
Following are top 11 features and improvements in Android 15 to power your smartphones.
Google officially released Android 15 and made its source code available at the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) Thursday September 03, 2024.
Open source allows anyone to build upon and contribute to Android, resulting in devices that are more diverse and innovative.
“Android 15 will be available on supported Pixel devices in the coming weeks, as well as on select devices from Samsung, Honor, iQOO, Lenovo, Motorola, Nothing, OnePlus, Oppo, realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, vivo, and Xiaomi in the coming months”, the text giant said.
Following are top 11 features and improvements in Android 15 to power your smartphones.
1. Private Space
Android 15 comes with a new feature called “Private Space”. The feature enables users to keep sensitive apps separate from the rest of phone.
Whether you want to safeguard personal records, health data or your banking apps, Private Space keeps them safely behind a second layer of authentication, protected with the same password you use to unlock your device or an alternative PIN.
When your Private Space is locked, apps are hidden from the recent view, notifications, settings, and other apps. You can wipe your private space completely too.
Some types of apps such as medical apps, launcher apps, and app stores may need to take additional steps to function as expected in a user's private space.
2. Better Audio Image Descriptions
Android has a screen reader called TalkBack to support Braille displays for folks with vision loss. Android 15 uses Google's Gemini AI to improve its ability to describe images.
Traditionally, image descriptions on websites were limited to whatever was input in the alt text field, but Google's AI can analyse images and describe them in greater detail.
This new feature also works with photos in your camera roll, social media images, or pictures in text messages.
3. Earthquake Alert System
Smartphone users in the United States will get potentially life-saving warnings about impending earthquakes as Android 15 employs crowd-sourced earthquake detection technology.
The new feature also includes tips on what to do in the aftermath of a quake.
Google has partnered with the United States Geological Survey (USGS), California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) and the ShakeAlert system to make Android Earthquake Alerts available in California, Oregon and Washington.
4. Enhanced Satellite Connectivity
There’s a significant expansion for satellite connectivity in Android 15. Some RCS and SMS apps should now be able to send text messages via satellite – the feature that was previously limited to emergency use.
Google has also standardized the pop-ups and other user interface elements to make it clearer when connected via satellite.
So far, only the Pixel 9 range supports satellite messaging.
It could be a big blow to Apple, which restricts satellite connectivity support on iPhones for emergency uses only.
5. Malicious App Blocking
Several updates in Android 15 make life tougher for malicious apps. They can no longer hide behind other apps by bringing them to the foreground or overlay themselves invisibly on top.
There are also changes designed to prevent the exploitation of intents, which let you start an activity in another app by describing an action you'd like to perform, as they are often misused by malware.
This is behind-the-scenes stuff to keep users safer.
6. Find your phone even if it’s offline
Google’s Find My Device feature is getting a major upgrade in Android 15. As per the findings by Android Police, all Android 15 phones can ping each other via Bluetooth and can contribute to the network, which will help other Android users find their lost devices.
The Find My Network relies on Android devices broadcasting, which are essentially Bluetooth signals. The nearby Android devices part of the Find My Device network can pick up Bluetooth signals from the broadcasting device and upload the encrypted location details to Google’s servers. Only the broadcasting device owner and the people with access to the encryption key can decrypt the location.
That means billions of Android devices will ping each other via Bluetooth once they’re added to the Find My Device network, and can help others find their lost Android devices. If everything goes well, Android will have a much bigger lost device tracking network than Apple’s Find My network.
7. Audio Sharing
It should be easier to share audio from your phone using Bluetooth LE and Auracast with a new settings page focused on audio sharing.
The feature allows you to broadcast audio from your phone to other devices within Bluetooth range, including the phones and earbuds of friends and family who can scan a QR code to join.
8. Better PDF Handling
Trying to do anything with PDF files on your Android phone can be a pain, so the news that Google has built several PDF enhancements into Android 15 is welcome.
PDFs should load more smoothly, and there is now support for password-protected files, annotations, form editing, and copy selection. Perhaps best of all, you can now search within PDF files.
9. Improved Low-Light Camera
There are a couple of significant improvements for the camera app in Android 15.
Firstly, Low Light Boost makes for better previews in low-light conditions, so you can frame your night time shots better and scan QR codes when light is limited.
There are also new camera app options to give you finer control over the flash so you can adjust the intensity for both single flashes and continuous flashlight mode.
10. Enhanced Fraud and Scam Protection
There are several updates in Android 15 aimed squarely at thwarting fraudsters and scammers.
Google will employ AI through Play Protect and on devices to scan for and flag suspicious behaviour.
Messages containing one-time passwords (OTPs), typically used in two-factor authentication, are now hidden from the notifications system, making it harder to intercept them.
Restricted settings are also being expanded for side-loaded apps—ones that aren't downloaded through the Google Play Store.
11. Efficient Battery Life
There are always tweaks and improvements to efficiency in Android updates that should have a positive impact on battery life, but with Android 15, Google is placing more checks on foreground services and clamping down on apps that keep running in an active state.
Devices with a lot of RAM should also see faster app and camera launch times with lower power draw, thanks to support for larger page sizes.
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