Android 15 was finally released on Tuesday after months of testing in beta, Android announced in a blog post. Its source code has also been made available at the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), enabling developers to create custom variants of the operating system (OS) catering to their devices and port it. The company also confirmed that Android 15 will be available in the coming weeks, starting with its in-house Google Pixel smartphones. This development comes months after the OS was reported to have achieved “platform stability”.
Android 15 AOSP
In a blog post, Android announced that the source code of its latest operating system will now be available at the AOSP – a source code repository which contains the core of the Android OS. Developers can access it and contribute to the development and improvement of Android
In the coming weeks, Android 15 will also be available for download on supported Google Pixel smartphones, which the latest Pixel 9 series is expected to be a part of. Additionally, eligible handsets from other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) including Samsung, Honor, iQOO, Lenovo, Motorola, Nothing, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, Vivo, and Xiaomi will also receive the update in the next few months.
According to the platform, its latest OS has new ways to further tune the app experience, enabling developers to improve an app’s performance so that it runs on any Android release. This includes APIs for ApplicationStartInfo, PdfRenderer, OpenJDK, and SQLite. Furthermore, the Android 15 release also brings Matrix44 and other canvas drawing capabilities, allowing developers to manipulate the canvas in 3D, in addition to enabling complex shapes by intersecting either the current shader or a difference of the current shader.
It also improves internationalisation and typography, courtesy of inclusions like the creation of new font families and improved justification of languages. The update also contains camera and media enhancements, allowing the handset to adjust the loudness of the audio, control HDR headroom, and better low-light boost.
For users, the Android 15 release brings ways to save favourite split-screen app combinations, Talkback support for Braille displays, OS–-level support for app archiving and unarchiving, single sign-in using passkeys, and a private space for users to store their private information.
