Skip to main content

Android 15 is now rolling out to Pixels. Here’s what’s new

Android 15 logo on a Google Pixel 8.
Joe Maring / Digital Trends

The wait for a next-generation Android experience is finally over. Google today released the public version of Android 15, and it is now making its way to compatible phones, starting with the company’s Pixel series of smartphones.

Among the key areas where Android 15 brings the biggest set of upgrades are safety and privacy. To that end, users will soon be able to create a safe space for all their sensitive apps, locked behind their device’s local password or biometric layer.

Recommended Videos

This safe environment is called Private Space, which lives as its own invisible room on the app drawer. You can now protect apps dealing with health data, banking activities, and sensitive communication in this private corner of your Android phone without any complicated tricks.

Private Space option in app library of Android 15.
Private Space is one of the best features on Android 15. Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

Such apps won’t appear in the multitasker view or settings. Notifications from these sensitive apps will not be publicly visible, either. A private app will appear as its own dedicated label at the bottom of the app drawer, but users can choose to hide that as well.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Google is also adding a set of features to protect stolen devices. Among them is Theft Detection Lock, which relies on AI and device sensor readings to detect an event like snatching. Once the system is affirmative about such an attempt, it automatically locks the screen as a safety measure.

Bad actors often try to avoid tracking by disabling systems like Find My or removing the SIM. In such scenarios, Google will protect these systems behind a layer of identity verification. Likewise, if someone tries to brute-force their way past an app or setting’s password, the stolen device will automatically lock itself.

Android Theft Detection on Pixel 9.
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

Users can also choose to remotely lock their devices. To put a screen lock on your stolen or misplaced phone, you need only use the registered phone number and pass a security check using any device at your disposal.

Once again, Google is carrying forward the momentum of optimizing the UI for foldable and large-screen devices. In Android 15, users will finally be able to pin or remove the taskbar at the bottom of the screen — a huge win for devices like the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

The latest iteration of Android also improves the lowlight camera performance within third-party apps, delivering more granular flash controls for the camera UI. Satellite-driven messaging support, a feature that recently made its way to iPhones, is coming to Android devices as well.

With today’s rollout, Android 15 is now available for all Pixel phones starting with the Pixel 6/6 Pro/6a and newer, plus the Pixel Tablet. Unfortunately, if you have a phone from another manufacturer, you’ll need to keep waiting.

Nadeem Sarwar
Nadeem is a tech and science journalist who started reading about cool smartphone tech out of curiosity and soon started…
Android’s Find My Device is making it easier to stay connected and safe
The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold's cover screen.

Google is introducing several new features for Android with the March Pixel (Feature) Drop. These updates for Spring 2025 include two enhancements focused on user safety.

The new feature allows sharing your location with trusted contacts via Find My Device. This way, you can check your friend’s ETA for dinner, see if they arrived home safely, and more. The feature lets you manage who can see your location — and for how long. The new feature requires location services, Google Location Sharing, and an internet connection.

Read more
Google Pixel 9 is getting a scam detection upgrade you’ll want on your phone
Google’s Scam Detection for calls on Pixel 9.

Over three months ago, Google started beta testing a new safety feature for Pixel phones that can sense signs of a fraud in voice calls using AI analysis. Today, Google has officially launched the Scam Detection feature for calls, alongside a similar con-screening system for messages.
Every year, smartphone users lose millions of dollars to elaborate schemes across the world. The problem is so rampant that the US Office of Inspector General and the Federal Trade Commission have published guidelines on recognising and reporting such deception.

Hearing calls to flag risks
To look for signs of scam in an ongoing call, Google is pushing the natural language understanding of on-device Gemini Nano AI on Pixel phones. The AI will listen to the ongoing telephonic conversation in  real time, and if it detects a risky pattern, an alert will pop up.

Read more
Google quietly fixed USB flaw that left over a billion Android devices exposed
Official Android mascot and splash screen on a phone.

In the first week of February, Google published its usual Android Security Bulletin, detailing security flaws that have been plugged to strengthen the platform safety. These flaws are usually declared once they have been fixed, except in special circumstances.

February is one of those rare situations for a kernel-level, high-severity flaw that was still being actively exploited at the time of the bulletin’s release. “There are indications that CVE-2024-53104 may be under limited, targeted exploitation,” says the release note.

Read more