Android 15 is coming later this year and the first developer preview is already available We, the public, will have to wait until the release of the Android 15 beta or Google I/O in May, whichever comes first

We will no doubt see the usual series of enhancements to rather uninspiring, but fairly important, things like performance and efficiency However, we are also hearing that some pretty serious changes are in the works Maybe not as serious as Apple's rumored plans for iOS 18, but still pretty exciting changes They include new ways to communicate, better support for foldable phones, and enhanced privacy and security

There's still a lot we don't know, and Google will no doubt fill in the blanks later, but right now it's the nine Android 15 upgrades we're most excited about

Android is trying to catch up with Apple and offer its own satellite communications system, which is already supported in the second Android Developer Preview However, Google may go a step further than Apple's offering, which is limited to emergency communications, by offering two-way satellite messaging with anyone, not just emergency services

This special feature may be limited to Pixel phones, at least initially But it means you are much less likely to get caught somewhere completely disconnected from the rest of the world when you don't want to be No doubt to stop people wasting bandwidth to send memes, it will be text-only by the looks of things, and we can probably expect to pay a premium for non-emergency messaging

While there isn't a single change coming to privacy and security in Android 15, we're hearing about a bunch of small improvements that should combine to make the Android experience more secure

The first is a new privacy sandbox that allows developers to focus on enhancing user privacy but still serve personalized ads Because Google and developers love money, Android 15 apps are also recording and will be able to detect and immediately alert you to that fact In addition, the Android 15 update is expected to strengthen the protection of two-factor authentication codes so that untrusted apps cannot spy on the 2FA codes you send It is also expected to prevent 2FA codes from being displayed on the lock screen where they could be spied on

Android devices come in all shapes and sizes, and software needs to adapt to a variety of different screens and shapes to ensure that everything runs in the best way possible With the rise of folding phones, including those made by Google, Android 15 will improve support for cover screens on folding flip phones

Cover displays are smaller than standard screens, but still large enough to run a full range of Android apps, which do not always display correctly Therefore, Google offers better support for apps on the cover display and allows developers the option to choose if they wish to have this support In turn, this should also ensure that apps that do not work well on such small displays are restricted to the main display

If you use one of the best video calling apps on your desktop, you know that you can share the entire screen or just a single window; Android 15 brings a similar feature to smartphones, allowing callers to share everything on the You will be able to share a single app without having to broadcast everything to the other person on the call

The partial screen sharing feature also allows users to record a single app rather than the entire screen, which is already possible on some Android phones For example, the Pixel phone can do this with its built-in screen recorder, and once upgraded, this feature should be available on other Android phones as well

No word yet on when Google's revamped "Find My Device" network will launch, but Android 15 may make it a little easier to find your Pixel 8 phone when you lose it - even when your phone is turned off been offering this feature for a while, and Android is trying to catch up

The new Powered Off Finding API is designed to allow pre-computed Bluetooth beacons to be stored in the Bluetooth controller's memory These beacons will continue to work even after the phone is powered off, allowing them to be located However, these beacons still require power and may not work if the battery is completely empty

Lock screen widgets were once available on Android, but disappeared almost a decade ago with Android 5 (Lollipop) Fortunately, it looks like Android 15 may bring them back from the dead, or at least that's what some stray code found in the Android 14 QPR 2 beta suggests This is not surprising given that Apple added lockscreen widgets in iOS 16 and made them interactive in iOS 17

Android sleuth Mishaal Rahman managed to get a handful of Google app widgets running on the lock screen, and speculated that it may be limited to devices that can run Android's hub mode - like like the Pixel tablet However, the beta version of the widget wasn't what we'd call complete, so a lot could change, and while we hope Google has bigger plans for rolling out lock screen widgets again, this is definitely a good first step toward a proper comeback would be a good first step toward a proper comeback

If you're sick of apps constantly pestering you with notifications, Android 15's rumored "notification cooldown" feature could make your life a lot easier The idea is that you can apply cooldown to all notifications or specific conversations, gradually lowering the ringtone volume for each notification you receive

This makes it easier to ignore them, but does not require a thorough Do Not Disturb In other words, all other notifications to which the cooldown has not been applied will still be visible, and the offending notification will not be completely silenced

Android 15 may also make edge-to-edge display mandatory so that apps can take full advantage of available screen space Currently, developers can leave a gap where Android's status bar should be, but an edge-to-edge display would extend what is shown below the bar to the edge of the screen

Currently, edge-to-edge mode is optional, which means that there are situations where apps cannot take full advantage of screen space Also, no matter what orientation the phone is used in, there will no longer be gaps or ugly black bars ruining the look of the screen

Finally, Pixel Fold owners will be pleased to hear that Android 15 allows you to continue using apps after closing the main screen This means that if they have to switch from the interior display to the cover display in the middle of a task, they should still be able to continue as normal

Options found in Android 15 developer preview 2 suggest that this can be set to always occur or with a "swipe up to continue" option This means that swiping up from the home bar should specifically activate screen switching If that sounds familiar, that's because it sounds a lot like what OnePlus Open already does

Android 15 is going to be a very run-of-the-mill upgrade for Google's mobile ecosystem, but that could change iOS 18 is said to be getting a big push with AI and a possible interface redesign, whereas iOS 18 is said to have AI and a possible interface redesign, Android 15 seems to focus on a number of behind-the-scenes changes that will improve the user experience in smaller, less obvious ways

But that's certainly not a bad thing Android 15 appears to be doing what Google can to catch up with Apple's recent advances, as well as making many subtle but useful changes to the software And frankly, I can't wait to get my lock screen widget back after all this time