Private Space, app archiving, and more

Android 15 — Google’s big feature update for Android in 2024 — is now available for download on eligible Google Pixel devices. For some context, version 15 of the company’s flagship mobile operating system was actually finalized back on September 3, in the form of an Android Open Source Project (AOSP) release.

It took Google just a little bit longer than expected to deliver its modified Pixel implementation of Android 15 to us, but we finally have our hands on it now. The change log is fairly lengthy, though most of the enhancements and tweaks are under-the-hood as opposed to user-facing. Nevertheless, there are a few notable additions to play around with — here are my 5 personal favorites.

1 Android finally has its own dedicated Private Space.

A long-time staple of third-party Android skins makes its way to the Pixel

Google / Pocket-lint

Many third-party manufacturers have long offered a password protected ‘private’ mode as part of their Android skin overlay. It’s been a long time coming, but I’m happy to see Google finally implement a comparable feature into the core Android experience.

Enter Private Space — once activated in settings, it’ll create a separate enclave within your app drawer for securing any app behind secure authentication. If this sounds similar to iOS 18’s ‘Hide and Require Face ID’ feature, that’s because it is (though implemented differently, the core concept is similar)

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2 Theft Detection Lock, Offline Device Lock, and Remote Lock are all much-appreciated additions

Hopefully, you’ll never need to use any of these security features

Google / Pocket-lint

This next function, Theft Detection Lock, uses on-device AI in concert with your phone’s gyroscope sensor to activate itself. In the unlikely event that a person snatches your phone out of your hand and takes off with it, the feature quickly locks your phone screen to protect your personal data.

Offline Device Lock automatically lockd your phone screen if the Android system detects that somebody is trying to disconnect your phone from the internet for extended periods. And then there’s Remote Lock: a new web portal that allows you to remotely lock your Android’s screen simply by typing in the phone number associated with your SIM.

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3 App archiving is implemented at the system level

The perfect tool for when you’re running low on storage space

Google

App archiving is a useful tool that allows you to delete the parts of an app that take up precious storage space without having to delete your personal data in the process. Essentially, it allows you to more easily re-download the full application and continue off exactly where you left off.

App archiving is nothing new to operating systems, but now it’s properly built into Android at a lower level than previously. Even better, according to a deep dive by Mishaal Rahman over at Android Authority, the feature appears to work on apps installed from sources outside the Google Play Store. As phone apps continue to grow in scope and size, easy archival options are a big quality-of-life addition in my eyes.

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4 We finally have a battery charge limiter baked into the OS

When it comes to smartphone battery management, more options are better than fewer

A battery charge limiter setting is yet another feature that’s been around on other operating systems and Android skins for some time now. In short, it allows you to cap your phone’s battery to an 80% charge as opposed to 100%, in order to preserve the long term health of your power cell.

Batteries degrade quicker when they’re exposed to low charge or high charge percentages for extended periods, so this feature is a justified OS inclusion. Currently, the setting only allows for an 80% cap. I’d love to see additional flexibility in a future update, with optional cap rates of 85% or even 90%.

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5 The Android tablet experience just got better

Google continues to slowly but surely improve on Android for big screens.

Google / Pocket-lint

Google began reinvesting in the tablet space with the launch of Android 12L in 2021. Since then, the company has slowly been chipping away at tablet-friendly OS improvements, one update at a time. Thankfully, this trend continues with Android 15.

There’s a new option to force the taskbar to remain on screen at all times, as opposed to the ‘transient’ version that floats in and out of view. Meanwhile, a new app pairs feature lets you quickly launch any two apps simultaneously in split-screen mode, which is great from a productivity perspective.

There’s also a new dedicated widgets area accessible from the lock screen, simply by swiping over to the right. Interestingly, Google has elected to keep lock screen widgets tablet-exclusive at this time. I’m hopeful that the feature will be backported onto phone-sized screens in a future update. Google appears to be playing the long game when it comes to Android tablets, and I’m excited to see how the OS will continue to evolve to better accommodate big-screen devices.

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