Following Platform Stability last month, Android 15 Beta 4 is rolling out to Pixel devices today. This is officially a near-final build and the “last scheduled update” of this preview cycle.
Google says, “These OTAs start tonight (PDT).”
…so make sure your apps are ready and you’ve given us critical feedback before non-beta users start using Android 15.
Since this is the second Platform Stability release, the “developer APIs and all app-facing behaviors are final.” Google may release additional 4.x patches in the coming weeks.
One thing that app developers need to be aware of is how Android 15 is removing the old PNG-based emoji font file (NotoColorEmojiLegacy.ttf). In Android 13, Google switched to a vector-based file, but kept the old approach for compatibility reasons. Also:
…some Android 15 devices, like the Pixel, only have the vector file.
The following issues have been fixed in Beta 4:
Developer Reported Issues
- Fixed a contrast issue that made some elements in the Quick Settings tiles difficult to read. (Issue #340944691)
- Fixed an issue where, in rare cases, some Pixel devices would become stuck in an unbootable state if the device was factory reset shortly after installing an OTA system update. (Issue #349860641, Issue #349978813)
Other Fixed Issues
- Fixed an issue where an Android Virtual Device (AVD) with an Android 15 system image would sometimes fail to launch if the AVD was launched in embedded mode.
- Fixed an issue where app notification settings were sometimes not restored when restoring a device from a backup.
- Fixed an issue for Pixel Fold devices where a user could not continue face unlock enrollment if the device was folded or unfolded during the process.
- Fixed various other issues affecting system stability, connectivity, performance, usability, and camera.
Bluetooth issues resolved
- Fixed a bug that prevented the Digital Car Key app from performing low latency scans when running in the foreground.
- A fix has been made to use custom UUIDs instead of the default HOGP service UUID in the Android head tracking service.
- Use head-tracking codec capabilities to detect transport support in LE Audio stack.
- A fix has been made to prevent Bluetooth pairing requests from being rejected out of hand when there is a mismatch between the transport suggested by the API and the transport seen by the Bluetooth stack. This could potentially improve pairing success rates.
Known issues:
Android platform
- When an app window transitions to Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode, the PiP window will disappear if the device is rotated before the PiP transition is complete.
- An error page appears when adding an account during device installation.
Android Studio and Tools
- The Android 15 preview API level (VanillaIceCream) is not displayed in the Preview Configuration window.
- In some cases, when checking for updates in Android Studio, the latest version of the Android SDK Build Tools, including the Android 15 preview SDK, is not offered.
- When setting up a new project in Android Studio, the Android 15 preview SDK version is not displayed in the Target SDK Version and Minimum SDK Version dropdown menus.
- Sometimes an Android Virtual Device (AVD) that uses an Android 15 system image may fail to boot if the AVD is booted in embedded mode.
- An issue with the Android emulator sometimes prevents an app from being redeployed to an Android Virtual Device (AVD) after the AVD has been closed.
- An issue with the Android emulator causes the hearing aid accessibility shortcut to open multiple windows of settings apps.
- Due to an issue with the Android emulator, the notification window flashes while typing a direct reply.
- An issue with the Android emulator sometimes causes authentication flows in apps to fail and the message “Google Play Services keeps stopping” to appear.
- An issue with the Android emulator causes Simpleperf to crash when running a CPU profile.
- There is an issue with the Android emulator that causes the languages listed in the system language settings to display incorrect characters.
- An issue with the Android emulator sometimes causes the QR code scanner to display the message “Something went wrong” and fail to launch.
- An issue with Android Studio causes Device Manager to temporarily stop displaying the “Missing system image…” warning messages after an SDK platform is added or removed using SDK Manager.
- An issue with the Android emulator is preventing the Google Discover feed from loading in some cases.
Applications
- The message ‘Android System Intelligence keeps stopping’ appears while creating a file in the Google Docs app.
- Sometimes the Google TV app can’t play the video and instead shows the message “Play Movies & TV is temporarily unavailable.”
On Pixel, you can provide feedback using Android Beta Feedback. You can open it from the app drawer or the Quick Settings Tile to report bugs in the Google Issue Tracker. There’s also an Android Beta community on Reddit.
Android 15 Beta 4 (AP31.240617.009) with the July 2024 security patch is available for the Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 7a, Pixel Tablet, Pixel Fold, Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, and Pixel 8a, as well as the Android Emulator. Most people will install via the Android Beta Program, but you can also flash or sideload.
If you need help, here’s our complete guide to installing Android 15.
- Pixel 8a: Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 8 Pro: Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 8: Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel Tablet: Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel Fold: Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 7a: Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 7 Pro: Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 7: Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 6a: Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 6 Pro: Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 6: Factory Image — OTA
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