What's in Android 15? 'Notification cooldown' and other handy new features
The first developer preview of Android 15 has been available for several days now, and we're finally getting a glimpse as to what features it might bring.
First up is partial screen recording, which lets users record or share just a specific app window rather than the whole screen. This feature first started appearing in Android 14, but it's now being rolled out on a wider scale.
Second, users are getting more control over keyboard vibration thanks to a new toggle that lets them universally disable the function, overriding the setting within specific apps.
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Continuity on foldables will be upgraded, with users now getting the choice to continue apps on the front display. Now, the front display can either turn on whenever you fold your device, turn on just for games and videos, or never turn on and lock the front display when the device is folded.
On the performance side of things, small updates are coming that allow apps to better interact with the phone's thermal and power systems, providing better optimization to make sure devices don't overheat.
The early star of the show though is something called notification cooldown, which gradually lowers the notification volume when you get successive notifications from the same app. If you've ever been in a group text that popped off late at night or at an inconvenient time, you'll realize how useful this can be. Users have the option to apply this to all apps or just conversations.
More features are expected as Android 15 gets closer to release.
If you're interested in checking out Android 15, it's important to note that this isn't a public beta. For public betas, users can simply opt in and download the update. Developer previews are intended for app developers and are considered very early, unfinished versions that are often unstable and don't contain all features planned for the full release version. Additionally, as usual, it's only open to Google Pixel devices, 6 and later.
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Since the developer preview is not intended for everyone, Google makes it a little more difficult, requiring the OS to be downloaded from Android Studio and sideloaded via a USB connection.
A final release of Android 15 will probably be announced over the summer and fully available in the fall along with the Pixel 9 series.