Following last month's platform stabilization, Android 15 Beta 4 is rolling out to Pixel devices today. This is officially the nearly finished build and the "final scheduled update" of this preview cycle.
Google says: "These OTAs will begin tonight PDT."
As the second platform stability release, "Developer APIs and all app-related behavior are final." Google is likely to release a 4.x patch in the coming weeks.
One thing app developers should know is that Android 15 will remove the old PNG-based emoji font file, NotoColorEmojiLegacy.ttf. In Android 13, Google switched to vector-based files, but kept the old approach for compatibility reasons. Outlook:
...Some Android 15 devices, such as the Pixel, only have vector-based files.
The following issues were fixed in Beta 4:
Developer-reported issues
Fixed a contrast issue that made some items in Quick Settings tiles hard to read. (Issue #340944691)
Fixed a rare issue that could leave some Pixel devices in a boot-unable state if they were factory reset immediately after installing an OTA system update. (Issue #349860641, Issue #349978813)
Other issues fixed
Fixed an issue where an Android Virtual Device (AVD) containing an Android 15 system image could fail to launch when launched in embedded mode.
Fixed an issue where app notification settings may not be restored when restoring a device from a backup.
Fixed an issue on Pixel Fold devices that prevented users from continuing Face Unlock enrollment if the device was folded or unfolded during the process.
Fixed various other issues impacting system stability, connectivity, performance, usability, and camera.
Fixes for Bluetooth issues
Fixed a bug that prevented the Digital Car Key app from performing low latency scans when running in the foreground.
Fixed the Android head tracking service to use a custom UUID instead of the default HOGP service UUID.
Use the head tracking codec functions to discover transport support in the LE Audio stack.
A fix is made to prevent Bluetooth pairing requests from being rejected out of the blue when there is a mismatch between the transports proposed by the API and those detected by the Bluetooth stack, potentially improving pairing success rates.
Known Issues:
Android Platform
When an app window switches to Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode, if the device is rotated before the PiP transition is complete, the PiP window disappears.
When adding an account during device setup, an error page is displayed.
Android Studio and tools
- The Android 15 preview API level (VanillaIceCream) isn’t 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 that includes the Android 15 preview SDK isn’t offered.
- While configuring a new project in Android Studio, the Android 15 preview SDK version is not listed in the Target SDK Version and Min SDK Version drop-down menus.
- Sometimes an Android Virtual Device (AVD) using an Android 15 system image fails to launch if the AVD is launched 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 is closed.
- An issue with the Android Emulator causes the hearing device accessibility shortcut to launch multiple settings app windows.
- An issue with the Android Emulator causes the notification window to flicker while typing a direct reply.
- An issue with the Android Emulator sometimes causes authentication flows in apps to fail and display a “Google Play services keeps stopping” message.
- An issue with the Android Emulator causes Simpleperf to crash when running a CPU profile.
- An issue with the Android Emulator causes the languages listed in system language settings to display incorrect characters.
- An issue with the Android Emulator sometimes causes the QR Code scanner to display a “Something went wrong” message and fail to launch.
- An issue with Android Studio causes the Device Manager to temporarily stop displaying “Missing system image…” warning messages after an SDK Platform is added or removed using the SDK Manager.
- An issue with the Android Emulator prevents the Google Discover feed from loading in some cases.
Apps
- An “Android System Intelligence keeps stopping” message appears while creating a file in the Google Docs app.
- The Google TV app sometimes fails to initiate video playback and instead displays a “Play Movies & TV is temporarily unavailable” message.
On Pixel, you can leave feedback using Android Beta Feedback. Access it from the app drawer or via the Quick Settings Tile to file bugs in the Google issue tracker. There’s also the 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 be installing via the Android Beta Program, but you can also flash or sideload.
If you need help, here’s our full guide on 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