Android 15 Review | Vertical Bar Media

It’s surprising that some still believe Pixel devices and Android are subpar. In reality, they are far from it, having been designed for both professionals and developers.

Marcus Spencer

Published in

Vertical Bar Media

7 min readAug 14, 2024

The image shows a shield-shaped emblem with a black background and white dots resembling stars. At the center, there’s a white Android robot head with antennas and triangular eyes. Above the robot head, the word “ANDROID” is written in capital letters, and the number “15” is displayed at the bottom in large yellow numerals. This emblem represents Android version 15. — Credit | Android Developers Blog: The First Developer Preview of Android 15 (googleblog.com)

Key Points:

The much-anticipated redesign of the volume sliders introduces a Material You-centric style to an aspect of Android’s core that was previously outdated.
At the center of Google’s mission is a strong emphasis on security. To protect users, Google has implemented a robust safeguard around device files, rendering them highly resistant to compromise.
The company recognizes creators and video gamers as key users and has integrated desktop-like tools tailored for both groups.

Android 15 is poised to be the most groundbreaking mobile operating system update in years, with an impressive suite of features designed to enhance user experience, security, and performance. This review delves into the key features of Android 15 and assesses their potential impact on the mobile landscape.

Privacy Sandbox on Android

The Privacy Sandbox in Android 15 is a set of technologies aimed at improving user privacy while still allowing for relevant advertising and app functionality. It’s part of Google’s broader Privacy Sandbox initiative that is also being developed for the web.

Key aspects of the Privacy Sandbox in Android 15:

Phasing out third-party cookies: It works towards eliminating the use of third-party cookies, which have traditionally been used to track users across different websites and apps.
Introducing new privacy-preserving technologies: It offers new technologies that allow advertisers to target ads and measure their effectiveness without relying on cross-app tracking of individual users. These technologies include things like:
Topics API: Sanctions apps to learn a few general interest categories about the user based on their app usage, helping serve more relevant ads without building detailed individual profiles.
FLEDGE: Enables on-device ad auctions, keeping user data on the device itself and minimizing the sharing of personal information with advertisers.
Attribution Reporting API: Provides a way for advertisers to measure ad conversions while preserving user privacy, using techniques like aggregation and differential privacy.

Why it is important for users:

Enhanced privacy: It significantly reduces cross-app tracking, meaning user data isn’t shared as widely and individual user profiles are not built by advertisers.
More control over data: Users have more control over what data is shared with apps and advertisers.

Health Connect

Android 15 is ushering in a new era of health tracking, seamlessly weaving Google’s Health Connect service into its core. This powerful platform consolidates all your approved health and fitness data from various Google-linked devices, eliminating the need to manually juggle information across multiple apps.

With Health Connect, gaining a holistic understanding of your health journey has never been easier. It serves as a centralized hub, providing a one-stop shop for managing your complex health and fitness data. And the best part? You maintain complete control, authorizing which apps can access and share your data.

Android 15’s integration of Health Connect goes beyond mere convenience. It unlocks exciting possibilities for enhancing device security. Imagine unlocking your phone with your unique fitness data — a futuristic concept that is now within reach, adding a layer of personalized protection to your device. This innovative fusion of health and security is both impressive and incredibly cool, showcasing Android 15’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.

File integrity

File integrity in Android 15 is crucial for users because it significantly enhances the security and reliability of their devices and data. Here’s why:

Protection against Malware and Unauthorized Modifications: The new FileIntegrityManager APIs in Android 15 leverage the fs-verity feature in the Linux kernel to enable cryptographic signatures for files. This means that any attempts to tamper with or corrupt these files will be detected, thus protecting your device from malware and unauthorized modifications that could compromise your apps, data, or system stability.
Enhanced App Security and Functionality: By ensuring the integrity of app files, Android 15 helps to prevent malicious actors from injecting harmful code into your apps or altering their behavior. This protects you from potential data breaches, privacy violations, and unexpected app crashes or malfunctions.
Data Protection: File integrity safeguards your personal data stored on your device. By verifying the authenticity and integrity of files, Android 15 ensures that your photos, videos, documents, and other sensitive information remain intact and protected from unauthorized access or corruption.
System Stability and Reliability: By maintaining the integrity of system files, Android 15 contributes to overall system stability and reliability. This helps to minimize the risk of system crashes, unexpected errors, and performance issues that could arise from corrupted or tampered files.

In essence, file integrity in Android 15 provides an additional layer of security and protection for users, ensuring that their devices, apps, and data remain safe, reliable, and free from malicious interference. This ultimately leads to a more secure and trustworthy user experience on Android 15 devices.

Partial screen sharing

Partial screen sharing, introduced in Android 15, is crucial for enhancing privacy and user control during screen sharing sessions. Here’s why it’s important:

Privacy Protection: It allows users to share only specific windows or apps, rather than their entire screen. This prevents unintentional exposure of sensitive information like notifications, personal messages, or confidential documents.
Focused Presentations: During online meetings or presentations, users can share only the relevant window or app, ensuring the audience’s attention remains focused on the content being shared.
Reduced Distraction: By sharing only a portion of the screen, users can minimize distractions for themselves and their audience. This helps maintain focus and engagement during collaborative sessions.
Increased Control: Users have greater control over what they share, enabling them to make informed decisions about their privacy and the information they disclose during screen sharing.

In summary, partial screen sharing in Android 15 provides users with enhanced privacy, focus, and control during screen sharing activities, leading to a more secure and productive experience.

Supporting creators

Android 15 has introduced several features aimed at supporting creators, including:

Improved Audio Control:

The LoudnessCodecController API, based on the CTA-2075 loudness standard, helps manage audio loudness inconsistencies across different content and apps. This ensures a more consistent audio experience for users and saves creators from worrying about users constantly adjusting volume levels.

Enhanced Camera Features:

Low Light Boost is a new auto-exposure mode for both Camera 2 and the night mode camera extension, helping capture better images in low-light conditions.
New camera extensions offer more control over camera hardware and algorithms on supported devices, providing more creative possibilities for photography and videography.
HDR headroom control with setDesiredHdrHeadroom allows for a better balance between SDR and HDR content, ensuring visuals appear con
Virtual MIDI 2.0 Device Support:
This allows composition apps to control synthesizer apps as virtual MIDI 2.0 devices, enhancing music creation and production workflows.

Dynamic Performance

Dynamic Performance in Android 15 is a new feature that intelligently optimizes device performance during gaming sessions. Here’s what you need to know:

The Game Mode API now permits game developers to declare a “sustained performance mode” for their games.
When this mode is active, Android 15 dynamically adjusts CPU and GPU performance to maintain optimal frame rates and responsiveness while minimizing battery drain and thermal issues.
This is achieved by balancing performance demands with system resources, ensuring the device remains cool and responsive even during prolonged gameplay sessions.

Benefits:

Smoother Gameplay: Dynamic Performance reduces frame rate drops and stutters, leading to a more enjoyable and immersive gaming experience.
Longer Gaming Sessions: By efficiently managing device resources, it allows for extended gameplay without overheating or excessive battery drain.
Improved Device Responsiveness: Even during intensive gaming, the device remains responsive to other tasks and notifications.
Developer Control: Game developers can fine-tune the performance mode to suit the specific requirements of their games.

Impact:

Dynamic Performance is a significant step towards making Android 15 a more powerful and enjoyable gaming platform.
It addresses common issues like overheating and performance throttling, which can hinder the gaming experience on mobile devices.
This feature benefits both casual and hardcore gamers by providing a more consistent and optimized gaming experience.

Overall, Dynamic Performance in Android 15 is a welcome addition that demonstrates Google’s commitment to improving the Android gaming ecosystem. It entitles developers to deliver more immersive and enjoyable gaming experiences while ensuring that users can play their favorite games for longer periods without compromising device performance or battery life

Impact on the Mobile Landscape:

Android 15 is set to redefine the mobile experience with its focus on privacy, multitasking, and user-centric design. The enhanced privacy controls empower users with greater control over their data, addressing growing concerns about data security. The seamless multitasking capabilities cater to the needs of power users, enhancing productivity and efficiency.

The advanced battery management features are a welcome addition, addressing a common pain point for smartphone users. The revamped UI design and enhanced security features further solidify Android 15’s position as a leading mobile operating system.

Conclusion:

Android 15 is a significant security update, but it’s primarily visual, unlike recent iterations of the operating system. Google’s dedication to innovation and user satisfaction has also been a plus. The update introduces a host of features that enhance privacy, productivity, and overall user experience. With its focus on privacy, multitasking, and battery optimization, Android 15 is poised to revolutionize the mobile landscape and set a new benchmark for mobile operating systems.