GOOGLE has given fans a lot to be excited about regarding Android 15, at its ongoing I/O 2024 event in San Francisco this week.
And Senior Technology & Science Reporter Jamie Harris is there with all the details.
Android 15 - or One UI 7 for Samsung owners - is the operating system that will succeed Android 14 later this year.
Here's everything we know about it so far, including all the leaks and rumours:
New features
Android 15 had reportedly been codenamed Vanilla Ice Cream, for it's lack of blockbuster features.
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But Google is actively trying to shake off that label with a handful of new features powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
The tech giant has announced a raft of major upgrades to its AI efforts as it fights to keep up with ChatGPT creator OpenAI.
Project Astra, the title of Google's AI work, will help improve how voice assistants sound, so they're more natural.
It will also be used to fuel a new all-seeing and hearing camera tool that can help spot your lost glasses or missing keys in a busy room inside the Android-exclusive Gemini app.
Android 15 continues our work to build a platform that helps improve your productivity while giving you new capabilities
Dave Burke, Vice President of Engineering at Google
Google is also planning a fresh AI feature that listens out for key signs of fraud calls and tells you before you make a huge mistake.
It's a real 180° from AI fuelling more sophisticated scams, to now helping stop them in their tracks.
Though, this may roll out before Android 15 sees the light of day.
In a blog post published in February, Google's Dave Burke said: "Android 15 continues our work to build a platform that helps improve your productivity while giving you new capabilities to produce superior media experiences, minimise battery impact, maximise smooth app performance, and protect user privacy and security."
Reports suggests that opening and navigating apps will become faster, and camera features in third-party apps, such as Facebook and WhatsApp, will be improved.
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Another small but useful new feature that may appear is the ability to see a battery health percentage - a feature you'll already find on iPhones.
There's also rumours that Android 15 will bring back support of lock screen widgets - like Apple did with its iOS 16.
Android hasn’t natively supported lock screen widgets, which was lost to Android 5.
Another iPhone feature that is rumoured to be finally coming to Android is the ability to archive unused apps - which is a gamechanger when it comes to conserving storage.
Release date
Android 15's second round of beta testing kicked off 14 May, so an official launch is still a long way off.
Google is aiming for the OS to be fully stable from June onwards, allowing the tech giant to make any finishing touches before its release.
The finished version of Android 15 will likely land sometime between August and October, based on past releases.
Last year, Android 14 launched properly on October 4, having first revealed details about it in February 2023.
While Android 13 landed on 15 August 2022 - so stay tuned.
Eligible phones
When Android 15 eventually launches, the OS update will roll out to Google Pixel owners first, before trickling out to Samsung owners and other branded handsets.
So far, Google has made the Android 15 developer preview available for newer Pixel devices, including the Pixel 6, the Pixel 7, and the Pixel 8.
It's understood that the same handsets will be eligible to download Android 15 when it's ready, plus all their sister models, including: the Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 7a, Pixel Fold, Pixel 8, and Pixel 8 Pro.
There is also a chance that the Pixel 5a 5G will also get Android 15, according to TechRadar, as this model is guaranteed updates until August of this year.
Samsung has also published a list of phones that will be able to download Android 15 (or One UI 7) here.
Other phone brands that should also receive Android 15, include the OnePlus 12, OnePlus 11, OnePlus Open, Sony Xperia 1 V, Sony Xperia 5 V, Xiaomi 13, and Motorola Razr Plus 2023.
