Google begins roll out of Android 15, available at AOSP

Specifically, the company has released the Android 15 source code and made it available at the Android Open Source Project (AOSP).

While the latest major release will be available on supported Pixel devices in “coming weeks”, access will widen to third-party devices over “coming months”. Selected devices from Samsung, Honor, iQOO, Lenovo, Motorola, Nothing, OnePlus, Oppo, realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, vivo, and Xiaomi will be able to run the software.

Android 15

Android 15 includes a number of UI changes. For example, users can save favorite split-screen app combinations for quick access, and there’s support for simpler multitasking (see above) across apps. The new version also defaults to displaying apps edge-to-edge when they target SDK 35, and the system bars will be transparent or translucent – content will draw behind by default.

For graphics – with Vulkan as Android’s preferred interface to the GPU – Android 15 includes ANGLE as an optional layer for running OpenGL ES on top of Vulkan. “Moving to ANGLE will standardize the Android OpenGL implementation for improved compatibility, and, in some cases, improved performance,” says Google.

There are also camera and media improvements, support for Private spaces, recording detection, developer support, and typography tweaks. You can see a summary of all Android 15 new features.

App compatibility

Matthew McCullough – VP of Product Management, Android Developer at Google – writes:

“We’re working to make updates faster and smoother with each platform release by prioritizing app compatibility. In Android 15 we’ve made most app-facing changes opt-in until your app targets SDK version 35. This gives you more time to make any necessary app changes.”

“To make it easier for you to test the opt-in changes that can affect your app, based on your feedback we’ve made many of them toggleable again this year. With the toggles, you can force-enable or disable the changes individually from Developer options or adb.”

Images: Google – (top) updates to PDF rendering include searching an embedded PDF file

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