After some wait, Google has now finally launched Android 15. To share this, Google presented a new 3D Android mascot at its Mountain View, California headquarters. It was sporting a red t-shirt and was holding a vanilla ice cream cone sprinkled with colourful confetti. This means that the “Vanilla” Android 15 is here.
At the launch, Matthew McCullough, VP of Product Management for Android Developer at Google, said, “Today we’re releasing Android 15 and making the source code available at the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). Android 15 will be available on supported Pixel devices in the coming weeks, as well as on select devices from Samsung, Honor, iQOO, Lenovo, Motorola, Nothing, OnePlus, Oppo, realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, vivo, and Xiaomi in the coming months.”
As you must be aware, Android 15 is late this year. Traditionally, Google rolls out the Android update to Pixel smartphones on the day of the Pixel launch. This year, the Pixel 9 series was launched without Android 15. And this time, even Pixel 9 users will have to wait for a couple of weeks just like other smartphone users to get Android 15.
Major brands like Samsung, Nothing, and OnePlus are testing their custom Android 15 skins, such as OneUI 7, NothingOS 3, and OxygenOS 15. So these might roll out soon.
With the new Android 15, you will get a plethora of new features. This includes a redesigned volume control panel, partial screen sharing, full-screen apps, and a native option to use an Android phone’s selfie camera as a webcam on Windows laptops. Google has also expanded the functionality of Circle to Search, it can even identify songs now. This is similar to Apple’s Shazam and will be available on select Pixel and Galaxy devices.