Google is releasing the Android 15 Developer Preview today. It's the ninth year that Google has given direction ahead of Android's stable release later this year.
Now in its fifth year, the preview is happening in February to give developers more time to provide feedback and update apps.
There are many Android 15 tentpoles to begin with Protecting User Privacy and Security. This includes the latest versions of the privacy sandbox on Android and Health Connect, which is new Exercise, Nutrition, and other data types. Google mentions partial screen sharing and casting from Android 14 QPR2.
Then there is a new one FileIntegrityManager “Tap the power of thin” with APIs fs-true feature in the Linux kernel.”
With fs-verity, files can be Protected by custom cryptographic signatureshelps you Make sure they are not damaged or deformed. This leads to enhanced security, protecting against malware or unauthorized file changes that could compromise your app's functionality or data.
under Supportive creators, app-in-app camera controls give developers “more control over the camera hardware and its algorithms on supported devices.” Available extensions provide:
Android 15 extends Universal MIDI packets (UMP) Support for virtual MIDI applications to control synthesizer applications and mixing applications as a virtual MIDI 2.0 device (as they are USB MIDI 2.0 devices).
to improve Performance and qualityGoogle offers a new Android Dynamic Performance Framework (ADPF) skills. These APIs allow games and other performance-intensive applications to “interact directly with the power and thermal settings of Android devices.” Supported Android 15 devices allow:
- A Energy efficiency method Better for long-running background workloads, for reference sessions that indicate their associated threads should prefer energy savings over performance.
- There can be both GPU and CPU runtimes reported In reference sessions, CPU and GPU bandwidths are adjusted together, allowing the system to better meet workload demands.
- Thermal headroom thresholds To interpret the potential thermal stimulus condition based on headroom prediction.
Finally, on Developer productivity First, Android 15 adds more OpenJDK APIs, including “quality of life improvements NIO buffers, Streams, SecurityEven more.”
At launch, Android 15 Developer Preview System images Also available for Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 7a, Pixel Tablet, Pixel Fold, Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro and Android Emulator.
Once you manually install a preview build, you'll automatically receive future updates for all later previews and betas. Read more Here.
Google warns how:
Issue with sideloading Developer Preview 1 build Sometimes the device displays a “Device corrupted” message after sideloading is complete. To overcome this problem, we recommend that developers flash a factory image to test devices as much as possible, instead of sidelining the OTA system image.
If you're on Android 14 QPR3, Google recommends that you “go to Developer Preview 1 now.”
Otherwise, you may run into periods where the Android 14 beta has a very recent build date, preventing you from going directly to the Android 15 developer preview without wiping data.
DP1 with February 2024 security patch (AP31.240119.016) is officially “for developers only and not for daily or consumer use.” It is only available through manual download and Flashing/Page loading today, the public-facing Android beta will arrive in April. If you need help, here's our full guide on installing Android 15.
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