Key Takeaways
- Android 15 is lastly out with a give attention to safety and privateness powered by options like Theft Detection and Non-public House.
- Mobile safety upgrades, first seen in beta, have been anticipated to be accessible with steady Android 15, however that does not seem like the case.
- A scarcity of appropriate {hardware}, even on the Pixel 9 sequence, is guilty.
Android 15 is lastly out now in steady, and though it is not the largest replace we have seen from Google, and would not convey any radical modifications, it does provide an general extra polished expertise, full with model new options and ones that we have beforehand seen in beta.
Theft Detection is definitely one of many foremost speaking factors popping out of Android 15, adopted by instruments and options like Non-public House, the brand new climate app, predictive again gestures by default, detailed widget previews, and extra.
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Contemplating the replace’s give attention to safety and privateness with Non-public House, Distant Lock, and Theft Detection, we might have anticipated the beforehand leaked mobile safety upgrades to make their method to the steady launch, although that does not seem like the case.
The mobile safety features have been first introduced again at I/O, with Android 15’s developer preview builds later providing a settings web page devoted to cellular community safety. In keeping with Mishaal Rahman in a report for Android Authority, the setting, on the time, may very well be present in Settings → Safety & privateness → Extra safety & privateness. The web page, which supplied toggles, was later renamed as “cellular community safety” with the outline “these settings assist shield your calls, messages, and information from outdated or unencrypted networks that might expose you to information theft or surveillance.”
The web page supplied toggles for Community notifications and Permit solely encrypted networks. The previous, when enabled, would immediate customers when their machine connects to an unencrypted community. The latter prevents your machine from connecting to unencrypted networks, limiting connectivity however boosting safety.
A {hardware} hiccup
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Sadly, regardless of being part of Android 15’s supply code, these mobile safety features are unavailable to make use of. Their preliminary look in beta did stir hypothesis about help, particularly within the then unreleased Pixel 9 sequence, although that is not the case. Rahman means that the cellular community safety settings web page going dwell in beta construct was a mistake, and the function is at the moment unavailable owing to a scarcity of appropriate {hardware} and OEM integration.
The settings web page for community safety was subsequently eliminated in Android 15 Beta 4.2. A remark made by a Googler on an IssueTracker thread in regards to the setting’s elimination reads “The difficulty is that individuals can seek for an unreleased function in Settings ({hardware} help is not accessible for it but). Sadly, many individuals are trying to find it wanting to make use of it, after which they attempt to use it, which in the end would not work as a result of lacking {hardware} help. Not having it absolutely hidden till HW help is accessible makes Android look janky.”
Regardless, this does not imply that we cannot see an OEM combine the community safety function in its smartphone inside Android 15’s lifespan. In keeping with Google, it’s “working with the Android ecosystem to convey these options to customers.”