UPDATE 2: The second beta build of the Android 15 is now live. Read on to learn more about the features, changelogs, and underlying issues, as well as the steps to download and install this Android 15 build onto your device.
UPDATE 1: The first beta build of the Android 15 is now available. Read on to know more about the features and issues that it brings in with itself.
The Silicon Valley giant has just released the second testing build of the fifteenth iteration of the OS. Apart from the usual bug fixes and performance improvements, you also get a few goodies this time around. So in this guide, we will be going through all these features and then make you aware of the complete changelog as well as the installation steps of Android 15 Beta 2. Follow along.
Android 15 Beta 2
- Features
- More efficient AV1 software decoding
- Modernizing Android’s GPU access
- Private space
- Query most-recent user selection for Selected Photos Access
- Richer widget previews with Generated Previews API
- Picture-in-Picture
- Set VibrationEffect for notification channels
- Improved large screen multitasking
- Permission checks on content URIs
- Improvements for Canvas
- Improved OpenType Variable Font API
- CJK variable font
- Automatic line break configuration
- New Japanese Hentaigana Font
- Behavior changes
- Support for 16 KB page sizes
- Required changes for some apps to support private space
- Increased minimum target SDK version from 23 to 24
- Predictive back animations enabled for apps that opted in
- Changes to when apps can modify the global state of Do Not Disturb mode
- Secured background activity launches
- Safer intents
- TextView width changes for complex letter shapes
- Locale-aware default line height for EditText
Known Issues
- Creating a private space on a device for the first time removes app icons from the Home screen (or Home screens if more than one Home screen has been added). We expect to include a fix for this issue in a Beta 2 point release in the coming days. (Issue #340868295)
- Debugging with LLDB doesn’t work yet with 16 KB emulator system images.
- When an app window is transitioning to picture-in-picture (PiP) mode, the PiP window disappears if the device is rotated before the PiP transition finishes.
- An error page shows while adding an account during device setup.
- An “Android System Intelligence keeps stopping” message appears while creating a file in the Google Docs app.
- The Google TV app sometimes fails to initiate video playback and instead displays a “Play Movies & TV is temporarily unavailable” message.
Resolved Issues
- Fixed an issue where the top area of the long screenshot activity interface overlapped with the status bar, preventing the screenshot controls from being accessed. (Issue #334003755)
- Fixed an issue where the top area of the long screenshot activity interface overlapped with the status bar, preventing the screenshot controls from being accessed. (Issue #333943304)
- Fixed an issue where the top area of the long screenshot activity interface overlapped with the status bar, preventing the screenshot controls from being accessed. (Issue #334091555)
- Fixed an issue where the top area of the long screenshot activity interface overlapped with the status bar, preventing the screenshot controls from being accessed. (Issue #333981232)
- Fixed an issue where a “Google Play services keeps stopping” message appeared while setting up a device.
- Fixed an issue where the android.icu.lang.UCharacter APIs for Unicode 15.1 weren’t working.
- Fixed an issue where the viewfinder for the Android QR Code scanner is sometimes cropped or resized to a smaller size on some Android Virtual Devices.
Android 15 Beta 1
The first beta build of Android 15 is finally here and it gives the tech enthusiasts a perfect platform to test out the new OS on their Pixel device. But before you welcome abode the update, let’s first make you aware of the new features and more importantly the bugs that you are likely to come across [after all, what’s a beta update without issues!].
What’s New
- App Archiving
- Cellular Network Security Controls
- Default Wallet App
- Improved Braille Support
- Pixel Weather Widgets
- Seamless App Scaling
- Wi-Fi Network Device Identification Management
Known Issues
- When an app window is transitioning to picture-in-picture (PiP) mode, the PiP window disappears if the device is rotated before the PiP transition finishes.
- A “Google Play services keeps stopping” message appears while setting up a device.
- An error page shows while adding an account during device setup.
- Unicode 15.1 APIs: The
android.icu.lang.UCharacterAPIs for Unicode 15.1 aren’t working in Developer Preview 2, but are expected to be fully functional in Android 15 Beta 1.
Resolved Issues
- Fixed an issue where sideloading the Developer Preview 2 build sometimes caused the device to show a “Device is corrupted” message after sideloading was completed.
- Fixed an issue where, while adding a face model for Face Unlock, the preview screen appeared to be trimmed or cropped.
- Fixed an issue where, when a locked SIM card was inserted into an unlocked device, the user wasn’t prompted to enter the PIN to unlock the SIM card.
- Fixed an issue where apps that depend on runtime-enabled SDKs were uninstalled on device reboot.
- Fixed an issue where the search bar in system settings didn’t respond the first time that it was tapped.
- Fixed an issue where the profile picture for secondary users couldn’t be changed.
- Fixed an issue where Skia wasn’t compatible yet with the Android 15 preview SDK, which prevented 3D mode from being enabled in the Layout Inspector.
- Bluetooth Stability and Pairing: We’ve resolved several Bluetooth crashes and pairing failures, significantly improving connection reliability.
- LE Audio & Earbuds Enhancement: LE Audio connectivity and user experience have been greatly improved, including fixes for audio routing inconsistencies, volume issues after calls, and pairing difficulties.
- Security Improvements: We’ve fixed an important security vulnerability related to legacy pairing for Pixel 4a and Pixel 3 XL.
- Bluetooth Device Information Accuracy: We’ve fixed several bugs to ensure accurate pairing information and bond type are fetched.
Android 15 Developer Preview 2
While we weren’t expecting a truckload of goodies with this new update, but there are still a couple of ones that managed to grab our attention. Let’s check them out, in no particular order:
Lock Screen Changes
Instead of Enter your PIN, you now get Enter PIN with a slightly larger text size.
App Archiving
As is evident from its name, this feature will allow you to archive an app on your device, instead of completely uninstalling it. For instance, archiving an Uber app resulted in size shrinking from around 380MB to just simply 18MB! Moreover, upon restoring the app, all your data will be back, so there’s no worry about data loss either you could think of this feature as a file compression/decompression mechanism].
HQ Android webcam mode
Back with Android 14 QPR1, Googe introduced the ability to use your Android device’s camera as a webcam. However, there was still some room for improvement which seems to have been finally addressed in Android 15 Developer Preview 2. You now get a High-Quality feature which tends to greatly improve and enhance the device’s camera when used as a webcam.
Audio Sharing
Thanks to the implementation of Auracast, you’ll now be able to share audio from a single source [your smartphone] with multiple headphones and speakers simultaneously. Our long-lasting fantasy finally seems to have come true with the Android 15 Developer Preview 2!
Bug Fixes
The update has also ironed out quite a few under-the-hood bugs and issues, namely:
- Fixed an issue where the Google Play Store app crashed repeatedly when a user tried to open it. (Issue #326337522)
- Fixed an issue where the package manager crashed when installing an APK from unknown sources, even if the “Install unknown apps” was enabled in system settings. (Issue #325649649)
- Fixed an issue that caused the Android System Intelligence app to crash. (Issue #325698180)
- Fixed an issue where work profile apps sometimes crashed if the device’s fingerprint reader was used. (Issue #326093530)
- Fixed an issue where an Android Virtual Device (AVD) using an Android 15 system image displayed as offline if the AVD was launched and then rebooted using adb reboot or other methods.
- Fixed an issue where the Google Play Store sometimes crashed with a null pointer exception when trying to update apps.
How to Download and Install Android 15
There exist quite a few ways through which you could install the latest Android 15 build- as an OTA update, by sideloading the update package manually flashing the factory image, and using the Android Flash Tool. Out of these four methods, it is highly recommended that you opt for the OTA Update method. For that, you just need to head over to Settings > System > Software Updates > Download the pending update.
On the other hand, if your device’s bootloader is unlocked and you want more granular control over the process, then you may also opt for the Android Flash Tool. However, as of now, there is an issue with the ADB Sideload process, so don’t opt for that method, until further notice. So this is all from the latest Android 15 update. We will be constantly updating this section with new developments surrounding this build as soon as they are live. So stay tuned.
You may heck out the OEM-specific instructions corresponding to your device below. The guide has all the necessary firmware and tools required to carry out the update. Moreover, we have also listed the steps and provided the downgrade firmware from Android 15 to Android 14, if you wish to perform a rollback.
Moroever, on “most” devices [baring one or two], doing an update will wipe off all the data from your device. Likewise, on “every” device, doing a downgrade will result in a factory reset. So wheter you’re doing an update or downgrade, having a backup beforehand is a must].
How to Download and Install Android 15 on Pixel Devices
How to Download and Install Android 15 on OnePlus
How to Download and Install Android 15 on Xiaomi
How to Download and Install Android 15 on Nothing
How to Install Android 15 on Honor
How to Install Android 15 on Vivo and iQOO
How to Install Android 15 on Lenovo
How to Install Android 15 on Realme
How to Install Android 15 on Oppo
How to Install Android 15 on Sharp
How to Install Android 15 on Tecno
