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Google just released the first Android 15 Developer Preview. It’s actually a week later than it was last year for Android 14, but where Google is getting away from their monthly release dates for updates these days, we might be able to expect that a bit more.
It first leaked earlier this week on February 15, which was the release date for the first developer preview for Android 15. But it looks like it was pushed back a day to February 16. It’s being called “Android V” internally, with it being called “Vanilla Ice Cream” internally.
There’s not a lot of new user-facing features in Android 15 so far. This is quite common with the past few Android releases. Google normally keeps a lot of the new user-facing features for the first beta or two, which is released during Google I/O in May.
What’s new in Android 15
The first developer preview for Android 15 focuses on three main areas: prioritizing privacy and security, supporting creators, and helping developers manage heat and processing power better.
As with every Android release, Google is working on prioritizing privacy and security, and in Android 15, they are incorporating the latest version of Privacy Sandbox, which will improve user privacy and add new APIs to the FileIntegrity Manager to help protect files that could compromise a developers app.
On the creator front, Google is adding more extensions that will allow for precise control of camera hardware so creators can take advantage of high-end camera capabilities. Google is also refining the OS before the final consumer release so that developers can leverage premium hardware features like power GPUs and AI processing so developers can deliver top-tier app experiences to their users.
Finally, Google is adding new capabilities to the Android Dynamic Performance Framework. This is going to help developers optimize thermal, CPU, and GPU management so that performance-intensive apps and games work more efficiently.
As mentioned before, there’s not a lot of user-facing features in this developer preview, it is mostly under-the-hood things that are going to help developers make your phone even smoother. We do expect to see some user-facing features coming in the first beta, which is set for April.
Google is going to do two developer previews, followed by four betas starting in April, with the final release being after that fourth beta in July. This time around, Google is not putting a month for the “Final Release” like they’ve done in the past. So it could be anywhere from August to October.