Category Archives: Android Developers Blog

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#WeArePlay | Meet the founders turning their passions into thriving businesses

Posted by Robbie McLachlan, Developer Marketing

Our celebration of app and game businesses continues with #WeArePlay stories from founders around the world. Today, we’re spotlighting the people who turned their passions into thriving businesses - from a passion for art and design from one game creator, to a passion for saving the environment from an app maker.

Brian, founder of SweatyChair
Sydney, Australia

During a gaming developer competition, Brian - alongside his wife and three other participants - built a challenging monster and bullet-dodging game called No Humanity within 48 hours, winning first place in the competition. From this, Brian founded his gaming company SweatyChair. No Humanity was improved and launched a week later and grew to over 9 million downloads. His passion for technology and art is how he champions a more active gaming experience, where players can create their own elements and play them in the game.


Prachi, founder and CEO of Cool The Globe
Pune, India

When Prachi travelled to Maharashtra, she saw first-hand how the effects of climate change impacted the locals. Her passion for protecting the environment led her to ask herself “What can I do about climate change?”. She vowed to reduce her carbon footprint and went on to create Cool The Globe, an app that helps people track daily actions to lower their emissions. Her dedication earned her the Young Changemaker Award in India. Next, she aims to add community dashboards for schools and organizations to follow their collective climate efforts.


François, Benoit and Julie Co-founders of Yuka App
Chatou, France

Benoit is passionate about providing nutritious food for his children, so he went on a mission to buy healthier food for his family. Whilst shopping, he found label-reading tiring and wished for a tool to check ingredients automatically. He shared his idea with his brother François and close friend Julie. Together, the trio saw a real need to combine their passions for nutrition and technology and spent a weekend hammering out their concept before presenting the idea in a food hackathon they went on to win. Their winning project laid the groundwork for their app Yuka, which scans product labels to reveal their ingredients and health impact.


Michelle, founder of Peanut App
London, UK

When the loneliness of early motherhood hit after her first child, Michelle sought community and answers from online forums. When the forums didn’t provide the safe space she was looking for, her passion for building community along with her 10 years of experience in social networking inspired her to create Peanut. The app helps moms to connect, make friends, and find support. With over 2.3 million downloads and a budding global community, the Peanut team recently revamped the main feed for greater personalization and introduced an ad-free option.

Discover more global #WeArePlay stories and share your favorites.



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Indie Games Fund: Google Play’s $2m fund in Latin America is back

Posted by Daniel Trócoli – Google Play Partnerships

Back again for 2024, we’re opening up applications for Google Play’s Indie Games Fund in Latin America - as part of our commitment to helping developers of all sizes grow on Google Play. Check out the 10 selected studios who received a share of the fund last year.

We will award a share of $2 million in addition to hands-on support to selected small games studios based in Latin America.

The program is open to indie game developers who have already launched a game - whether it’s on Google Play or another mobile platform, PC or console. Each selected recipient will get between $150,000 and $200,000 to help them take their game to the next level, and build successful businesses.

Check out all eligibility criteria and apply now. Applications close at 12:00pm BRT September 13, 2024. Priority will be given to applications received by 12:00pm BRT August 30, 2024.

For more updates about all our programs, resources and tools for indie game developers visit our website.

Create exceptional experiences on Pixel’s new watches and foldables

Posted by Maru Ahues Bouza – Product Management Director

Pixel just announced the latest devices coming to the Android ecosystem, including Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Pixel Watch 3. These devices bring innovation to the foldable and wearable spaces, with larger screen sizes and exceptional performance.

Not only are these devices exciting for consumers, but they are also important for developers to consider when building their apps. To prepare you for the new Pixel devices and all the innovations in large screens and wearables, we’re diving into everything you need to know about building adaptive UIs, creating great Wear OS 5 experiences, and enhancing your app for larger watch displays.

Building for Pixel 9 Pro Fold with Adaptive UIs

Pixel unveiled their new foldable, Pixel 9 Pro Fold with Gemini, at Made By Google. This device has the largest inner display on a phone1 and is 80% brighter than last year’s Pixel Fold. When it’s folded, it’s just like a regular phone, with a 6.3-inch front display. Users have options for how to engage and multitask based on the screen they are using and the folded state of their device - meaning there are multiple different experiences that developers should be considering when building their apps.

the Pixel 9 Pro Fold

Developers can help their app look great across the four different postures – inner, front, tabletop, and tent – available on Pixel 9 Pro Fold by making their app adaptive. By dynamically adjusting their layouts—swapping components and showing or hiding content based on the available window size rather than simply stretching UI elements—adaptive apps take full advantage of the available window size to provide a great user experience.

When building an adaptive app, our core guidance remains the same – use WindowSizeClasses to define specific breakpoints for your UI. Window size classes enable you to change your app layout as the display space available to your app changes, for example, when a device folds or unfolds, the device orientation changes, or the app window is resized in multi‑window mode.

Announced at Google I/O 2024, we’ve introduced APIs that, under the hood, take advantage of these WindowSizeClasses for you. These APIs provide a new way to implement common adaptive layouts in Compose. The three components in the library – NavigationSuiteScaffold, ListDetailPaneScaffold, and SupportingPaneScaffold – are designed to help you build an adaptive app with UI that looks great across window sizes.

Finally, developers who want to build a truly exceptional experience for foldables should consider supporting tabletop mode, where the phone sits on a surface, the hinge is in a horizontal position, and the foldable screen is half opened. You can use the Jetpack WindowManager library, leveraging FoldingFeature.State and FoldingFeature.Orientation to determine whether the device is in tabletop mode. Once you know the posture the device is in, update your app layout accordingly. For example, media apps that adapt to tabletop mode typically show audio information or a video above the fold and include controls and supplementary content just below the fold for a hands-free viewing or listening experience.

Screenshot of gameplay from Asphalt Legends Unite (Gameloft)
Asphalt Legends Unite (Gameloft)

Even games are making use of foldable features: from racing games like Asphalt Legends Unite and Disney Speedstorm to action games like Modern Combat 5 and Dungeon Hunter 5, Gameloft optimized their games so that you can play not just in full-screen but also in split-view tabletop mode which provides a handheld game console experience. With helpful features like detailed game maps and enhanced controls for more immersive gameplay, you’ll be drifting around corners, leveling up your character, and beating the bad guys in record time!

Preparing for Pixel Watch 3: Wear OS 5 and Larger Displays

Pixel Watch 3 is the latest smartwatch engineered by Google, designed for performance inside and out. With this new device, there are also new considerations for developers. Pixel Watch 3 rings in the stable release of Wear OS 5, the latest platform version, and has the largest display ever from the Pixel Watch series - meaning developers should think about the updates introduced in Wear OS 5 and how their UI will look on varied display sizes.

the Pixel Watch 3

Wear OS 5 is based on Android 14, so developers should take note of the system behavior changes specific to Android 14. The system includes support for the privacy dashboard, giving users a centralized view of the data usage for all apps running on Wear OS 5. For apps that have updated their target SDK version to Android 14, there are a few additional changes. For example, the system moves always-on apps to the background after they're visible in ambient mode for a certain period of time. Additionally, watches that launch with Wear OS 5 or higher will only support watch faces that use the Watch Face Format, so we recommend that developers migrate to using the format. You can see all the behavior changes you should prepare your app for.

Another important consideration for developers is that the Pixel Watch 3 is available in two sizes, 41 mm and 45 mm. Both sizes offer more display space than ever2, having 16% smaller bezels, which gives the 41 mm watch 10% more screen area and the 45 mm watch 40% more screen area than on the Pixel Watch 2! As a developer, review and apply the principles on building adaptive layouts to give users an optimal experience. We created tools and guidance on how to develop apps and tiles for different screen sizes. This guidance will help to build responsive layouts on the wrist using the latest Jetpack libraries, and make use of Android Studio’s preview support and screenshot testing to confirm that your app works well across all screens.

Learn more about all these exciting updates in the Building for the future of Wear OS technical session, shared during this year’s Google I/O event.

Learn more about how to get started preparing your app

With these new announcements from Pixel, it’s a great time to make sure your app looks great on all the screens your users love most. Get your app ready for large screens by building adaptive layouts and learn more about all things Wear OS on our Wear OS developer site. For game developers, be sure to read our large screen game optimization guide and check the sample project to learn the best practices for leveling up your game for large screen and foldable devices.

For even more of the latest from Android, tune into the Android Show on August 27th. We’ll talk about Wear OS, adaptive apps, Jetpack Compose, and more!


1 Among foldable phones in the United States. Based on inner display. 
2 Compared with Pixel Watch 2.

#WeArePlay | How Jakub is infusing Czech mythology into his games

Posted by Robbie McLachlan, Developer Marketing

In our latest film for #WeArePlay, which celebrates the people behind groundbreaking apps and games, Jakub takes us on a journey through the world of Amanita Design. Born in Prague, Czech Republic, his journey into the world of games began with a passion for animation and an eye for artistic detail. Driven by a vision to create games that blend captivating art with immersive storytelling, he founded his company Amanita Design in 2003.

Today, the thriving business is renowned for its unique approach to games, drawing inspiration from Czech landscapes, fairy tales, and the rich cultural heritage of its homeland. With a dedicated team of around 30, they are crafting games as visually stunning as they are narratively rich. Discover how he is merging the charm of Czech culture with the magic of gaming.



What’s the inspiration behind Amanita Design and your game Machinarium?

I have a love for nature, fairy tales, and Czech culture. Growing up in Prague, I was surrounded by beautiful landscapes and old buildings that sparked my imagination. I studied classical animation and always wanted to create something that felt both magical and deeply connected to my roots. Our games often use Czech folklore and the natural world. In 2009, when we developed Machinarium, I was fascinated with industrial decay and old machinery. The abandoned factories around Prague provided a gritty backdrop for the game. We paired this with a compelling story and handcrafted visuals. We even used natural sounds from our environment to add an authentic touch.



Did you always imagine you’d be an entrepreneur?

I didn’t initially see myself as an entrepreneur. My journey began with a passion for games and animation, and I started Amanita Design as a natural extension of my interests. I began the studio right after finishing school, driven by a desire to create and share my artistic vision. Over time, as the studio grew organically, I embraced the role of an entrepreneur but it was the love for game development that initially set me on this path.

What sets your games apart?

What makes our games stand out is the mix of old-world craftsmanship with today’s tech. We really enjoy incorporating hand-painted cardboard characters and using natural materials for sound effects, which adds a unique, tactile feel to our work. We draw deeply from Czech culture, nature, and fairy tales, giving each game a distinctive and enchanting touch. It’s all about creating something authentic and immersive, and we hope that passion resonates with our players.



What does the future look like for Amanita Design?

We’re working on several new games and exploring different distribution models, such as the free-to-try approach on mobile platforms. Our goal is to continue creating unique and artistically rich games that resonate with a global audience. As technology evolves, we plan to adapt and innovate, maintaining our focus on storytelling and artistic craftsmanship while embracing new opportunities in the gaming industry.

Discover more global #WeArePlay stories and share your favorites.



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Android Device Streaming: Announcing Early Access to Samsung, Xiaomi, and Oppo Device Labs

Posted by Grant Yang (Product Manager for OmniLab) & Adarsh Fernando (Product Manager for Android Studio)

At Google I/O 2024, we announced Android Device Streaming in open beta, which allows you as a developer to more easily access and interactively test your app on real physical devices located in Google data centers and streamed directly to Android Studio. This enables teams in any location to access a variety of devices across top Android device manufacturers, including the latest family of Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy series devices.

We’re significantly expanding on the diversity of devices available in this service by working closely with Android device manufacturers (also known as original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs)—such as Samsung, Xiaomi, and Oppo—to connect their device labs to Android Device Streaming, so you can access even more physical devices directly in your workflow in Android Studio. This integration is offered with the same performance, stability, and security benefits you get with devices provided by Google. Keep reading for more details below, as well as how you can sign up for the early access and take advantage of these new devices.

screen grab of Device Streaming in Android Studio
Access devices hosted by Google and other OEMs, such as Samsung, with Android Device Streaming, powered by Firebase

Signup for Early Access to OEM Lab Devices

If you haven’t already done so, follow the steps to get up and running with the beta release of Android Device Streaming, which will give you access to all the Google-hosted devices to test with directly from Android Studio. Later this year, we will start an Early Access Program that allows participants to use Android Device Streaming to connect to devices hosted by our OEM partners. This expands the catalog of test devices available to you with Android Device Streaming.

To kick off this program, we’re first partnering with Samsung, Xiaomi, and Oppo. These labs will be situated in various locations around the world, and you will be able to use the Firebase project you’re already using with Android Device Streaming in Android Studio to access them. Your Firebase project’s administrator will have control to enable or disable individual OEM labs.

If you’d like to participate in the EAP for accessing OEM device labs, fill out this form, and we will let you know if you and your team have been accepted. During the EAP, OEM-provided devices will not be billed or counted against your promotional monthly quota.

We look forward to sharing more details during Google’s I/O Connect Beijing in early August 2024.

In the meantime, we encourage you to try out the devices currently available in Android Device Streaming. Currently, the Android Device Streaming program is in a promotional period, with a higher amount of monthly minutes offered at no cost, which will last until approximately February 2025.

OEM Labs powered by OmniLab

Omnilab Logo

Some of you may wonder how these devices are being connected through to Android Studio. Under the hood, Android Device Streaming is built on top of the device platform for Google, OmniLab. OmniLab, the same device platform that powers all internal device labs, is also powering the OEM labs. Omnilab did this by open sourcing their Android Test Station (ATS) framework available to its open source.

OmniLab provides a framework to ensure that your Android Device Streaming session is secure and performant. You’re able to deploy, debug, and interact with your app on these remote devices through a direct ADB over SSL connection, all without having to leave the IDE. And when the session ends, the device data is fully wiped and factory reset before it’s made available to another developer.


In summary, if you’d like to participate in the EAP for accessing OEM device labs, fill out this form, and we will let you know if you and your team have been accepted. During the EAP, OEM-provided devices will not be billed or counted against your promotional monthly quota.

Be part of our vibrant community on LinkedIn, Medium, YouTube, or X and share your experiences on using Android Device streaming in Android Studio.

Making security easy: How we are helping you fix vulnerabilities in your Android apps

Posted by Bessie Jiang – Software Engineer and Chris Schneider – Security Engineer

Contributors: Maciej Szawłowski – Security Engineer, Hannah Barnes – Technical Program Manager, Dirk Göhmann – Technical Writer, Patrick Mutchler – Software Engineer

Security is tricky, but vital to protecting your users and their data. We’re here to help you build secure Android apps with fewer vulnerabilities for an even safer Android ecosystem for everybody.

Vulnerability Detection – How it Works

Google currently scans every app on Google Play for dozens of common security vulnerability classes. If we spot something, we let you know so you can fix the problem. Imagine a pentesting team hunting for bugs in each of the millions of apps published on Play, rooting out issues like bad TLS configurations that expose network traffic or directory traversal vulnerabilities that let adversaries read from or write to an app’s private files.

We are committed to keeping our joint users protected. In serious cases, if a security vulnerability doesn't get fixed, Google may remove the app from Google Play to keep users safe.

Android Application Security Knowledge Base

We know that it isn’t always enough to just tell you about a vulnerability in your app; you need to know how to fix the issue and how to prevent similar issues from cropping up in the future. To this end, we are introducing our security guidance and recommendations under a new program: the Android Application Security Knowledge Base (AAKB).

AAKB aims to establish guidelines for writing secure Android software. It is a repository of common code issues, with remediation examples and explanations for implementing specific code patterns. Organic in nature, new issues are identified automatically for review with experts across the industry – ensuring broad but well-tested approaches and guidance.

Data collected from your engagement with AAKB is used to improve guidance, and to identify how to make the Android ecosystem more secure by default.

How Does it Work?

AAKB establishes clear, vetted guidance with code examples. Guidance is aligned to OWASP MASVS standards, and content is vetted in partnership with technical peers, such as Microsoft. This helps ensure the content is not biased to one party and represents state-of-the-art standards. This also provides an educational place for you to proactively remediate security risks in your applications using industry-wide standards, with direct access to knowledge from subject-matter experts.

The guidance is available through two mechanisms:

The AAKB homepage lists each article independently, aligned to the relevant OWASP MASVS category (e.g. MASVS-STORAGE). Anyone can view or provide direct feedback to this content. Security is an ever-changing field, and being able to update guidance on the fly means software development lifecycles can be updated dynamically with as little friction as possible.

Android Studio triggers remediation guidance from lint checks by pointing directly to AAKB articles. You can fix problems as you're building the app and before they ever reach users.

There are two methods to view remediation guidance with Android Studio:

Existing security lint checks within Android Studio Giraffe+ have had their descriptions updated to include a link to the relevant AAKB article, allowing you get more context as to why a particular code snippet might be potentially “at-risk”.

Example of a finding with a link to a relevant AAKB article in the Android Studio IDE
Figure 1. Example of a finding with a link to a relevant AAKB article in the Android Studio IDE

Meanwhile, the open-source Android Security lint checks give you access to our most recent guidance and experiments to further protect your mobile applications and get ahead of future security concerns.

Add the open source checks to your project by following the README. These lint checks all contain click-to-fix functionality that make it easy for you to write safer code with minimal effort, as well as links to the relevant AAKB articles like the built-in IDE checks.

Example of an open-source security lint finding, highlighting a vulnerable code snippet and click-to-fix solution
Figure 2. Example of an open-source security lint finding, highlighting a vulnerable code snippet and click-to-fix solution

All built-in IDE lint checks can be found in this list, with many under the Security category containing links to relevant AAKB articles. We would love to hear your feedback and suggestions for new lint checks and other improvements to the open-source lint library.

Introducing Collections, a new on-device surface for your content

Posted by Cullen Rotroff, Product Manager, Google Play

Over the past year, the Play Store has evolved into a dynamic discovery engine for your apps and their amazing content. We continue to invest in features that connect the best app experiences to the people who love them. At this year’s Google I/O, we teased an exciting new on-device surface that expands the discovery of your content beyond the Play Store, powered by Engage SDK.

Today, we’re excited to announce that this brand-new surface is ready for the spotlight. Introducing Collections: a seamless way to showcase personalized content and guide users on continuous journeys that lead directly into your app.

Expand your app's reach beyond the Play Store

Collections is a full-screen immersive space that automatically organizes the best and most relevant content from installed apps into intent-oriented spaces, such as Watch, Listen, Shop, or Social. From there, users deep-link directly into your app to complete their journey, whether that’s to enjoy your content or complete a purchase.

You can use this surface to highlight your most important content, including personalized recommendations and promotions. If a user has your app installed but isn’t logged in, Collections can encourage the user to sign in to see your most personalized content. Plus, if your app is integrated but not installed, Collections can recommend to users to install it.

Users enter Collections through a Play Store widget. Without needing to install a new app, users can simply preview the experience in the Play Store and then add the widget to their home screen.

Collections keep users engaged with your content
Collections is a full-screen immersive space that automatically organizes 
the best and most relevant content from installed apps

Engage users with personalized and customizable messaging

There are multiple ways to use Collections to engage users.

Continuation journeys are the anchor of this experience and appear at the top of most spaces to help users resume their journeys with a tap. For example:

    • In Shop, users can pick up an abandoned shopping cart.
    • In Listen, users can jump back into a recently played album, playlist, podcast, audiobook, or live radio station.
    • And in Food, users can pick up an open cart or reorder a recent meal.

We also understand that developers know their users best, so to give you more control over the Collections experience, you can create up-to-five recommendation clusters. These clusters can be personalized based on your user’s behavior in your app and organized by theme, like new releases, price drops, or the user’s favorite topics. For users who aren’t logged in to your app, you can provide content with broad appeal to spur a new session.

Engage users through continuation journeys (like Continue listening) or with recommendation clusters (like Today's top hits)
Engage users through continuation journeys (like "Continue listening") or 
with recommendation clusters (like "Today's top hits")

Finally, Collections spotlights hero content in its featured cluster, a larger, more premium UI template. You can display one personalized featured card per user and update it dynamically throughout the day. The featured cluster is best reserved for top personalized promotions and deals, for example:

    • Promote memberships and special business models, like a loyalty program.
    • Highlight your best personalized deals.
    • Announce new products and app features.

Collections’ featured cluster spotlights your hero content
Collections’ featured cluster spotlights your hero content

Get started with Engage SDK

To start using Collections, you'll need to integrate with Engage SDK, a client-side integration that leverages on-device APIs and takes most developers about a week to complete. Designed to be simple and lightweight, the integration adds less than 50 KB to the average app APK.

Engage SDK enables your apps to push personalized app content to Collections. There is no need to start and maintain a new content strategy as the integration is designed for the personalized content from your app’s front page. Since you already have the content strategy, metadata, and personalization required, all you’ll need to do is publish it with Engage SDK.

Today, we’re inviting all apps with users in the United States and content in our supported categories – Watch, Listen, Read, Shop, Food, Social, Travel & Events, Health & Fitness, Dating – to join. Over 35 top apps have already integrated with Engage SDK, including Adidas, Amazon Prime Video, Audible, Best Buy, iHeartRadio, Nextdoor, Spotify, Shopify, and Walmart.

Visit our Engage SDK integration guide to see if your app meets the eligibility and on requirements, and express your interest.



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#WeArePlay | 153 new stories from people creating apps and games in the U.S.

Posted by Robbie McLachlan, Developer Marketing

In 2022, #WeArePlay launched 153 stories about the people behind app and game companies across the United States. Since then, we've been on a virtual tour around the world with more stories from India, Europe, Japan and Australia. Today, we're heading back to the U.S. as we celebrate 153 brand new stories, 3 more per state, and spotlight more growing businesses on Google Play.

Here are just a few of my favorites:

Bernard’s app uses virtual reality to recreate ancient cities

Bernard, founder of Yorescape
Bloomington, Indiana

Bernard went to visit Plastico di Roma Imperiale in the 70s - a model of imperial Rome in the time of Constantine the Great - and was spellbound. This visit was the seed of what was to become his app Yorescape, an app that uses virtual reality to let users explore ancient ruins. With 3D reconstructions and expert audio guides, Yorescape simulates world heritage sites with a little help from virtual reality. People can explore ancient ruins and take a unique journey through time, presenting historical sites as they exist today alongside their ancient counterparts. Yorescape showcases heritage sites from Egypt, Lebanon, Greece, Italy, and Mexico. One day, he hopes to cover sites in all four corners of the earth.


Pinkey’s app uses AI to revolutionize maternal healthcare for all moms

Pinkey, founder of Myri Health
Norman, Oklahoma

Pinkey was disappointed with the aftercare she received post-delivery when she gave birth to her first child. As a pharmacist, personal trainer, and pre-and postnatal corrective exercise specialist, she knew she had plenty of knowledge to share. This experience led Pinkey to create Myri Health, an AI-driven platform that transforms pregnancy and postpartum support. She plans to launch in countries with higher maternal mortality rates improving the healthcare of mothers everywhere and will integrate the app with Google Health Connect for fully cohesive care.


Bria’s game lets players serve Japanese-themed characters in a bubble tea shop

Bria, founder of Boba Story
Los Angeles, California

Bria worked for some big names in the tech world but wanted to start her own company based on what brings her joy. Bubble tea was something she always associated with good times with friends, and wanted to encapsulate that same feeling in Boba Story. In her game, players restore an old boba shop by designing the decor and a drinks menu, they then serve the Japanese anime-inspired characters bubble tea. A garden with beekeeping where players can harvest honey has recently been added as well as a host of new boba flavors.


Alina and Samara’s game uses micro workouts to help you stay active

Alina and Samara, co-founders of Fitment: Cozy Fitness Game
Hopkins, Minnesota

Whilst working 80 hours a week during the pandemic, Alina found that she had no time to exercise but still managed to play video games and scroll through social media. This inspired her to create a fun and easy game for people to stay active. After posting a job online, she teamed up with Samara, a gaming programming teacher, and they built their game, Fitment. The game makes exercise more accessible through gamified micro workouts that are engaging and fun. The team is now working on rolling out social features to make the platform more interactive, enabling friends to get fit together.


Discover more #WeArePlay stories from the US and stories from across the globe.



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The Fourth Beta of Android 15

Posted by Matthew McCullough – VP of Product Management, Android Developer


Today we're bringing you Beta 4, the last scheduled update in our Android 15 beta program, so make sure your apps are ready and you've given us any critical feedback before non-beta users start getting Android 15.

What's in Beta 4?

This is our second Platform Stability release; the developer APIs and all app-facing behaviors are final for you to review and integrate into your apps, and apps targeting Android 15 can be made available in Google Play. Beta 4 includes our latest fixes and optimizations, giving you everything you need to complete your testing. Head over to our Android 15 summary page for a list of the features and behavior changes we've been covering in this series of blog posts, or read on for some of the top changes to be aware of.

Timeline of Android 15 release schedule

Removed PNG-based emoji font

Android 15 removes the legacy PNG-based emoji font file (NotoColorEmojiLegacy.ttf) meaning that some Android 15 devices such as Pixel will only have the vector-based file. Beginning with Android 13, the emoji font file used by the system emoji renderer changed from a PNG-based file to a vector based file. We kept the old font file around in Android 13 and 14 for compatibility reasons, so that applications with their own font renderers could continue to use the old font until they were able to upgrade.

You can choose to adapt your app in a number of ways:

    • Use platform text rendering. You can render text to a bitmap-backed Canvas and use that to get a raw image if necessary.

Get your apps, libraries, tools, and game engines ready!

If you develop an SDK, library, tool, or game engine, it's important to prepare any necessary updates now to prevent your downstream app and game developers from being blocked by compatibility issues and allow them to target the latest SDK features. Please let your developers know if updates are needed to fully support Android 15.

Testing your app involves installing your production app using Google Play or other means onto a device or emulator running Android 15 Beta 4. Work through all your app's flows and look for functional or UI issues. Review the behavior changes to focus your testing. Each release of Android contains platform changes that improve privacy, security, and overall user experience, and these changes can affect your apps. Here are several changes to focus on that apply even if you don't yet target Android 15:

    • Support for 16KB page sizes - Beginning with Android 15, Android supports devices that are configured to use a page size of 16 KB. If your app or library uses the NDK, either directly or indirectly through an SDK, then you will likely need to rebuild your app for it to work on these devices.
    • Private space support - Private space is a new feature in Android 15 that lets users create a separate space on their device where they can keep sensitive apps away from prying eyes, under an additional layer of authentication.

Remember to thoroughly exercise libraries and SDKs that your app is using during your compatibility testing. You may need to update to current SDK versions or reach out to the developer for help if you encounter any issues.

Once you’ve published the Android 15-compatible version of your app, you can start the process to update your app's targetSdkVersion. Review the behavior changes that apply when your app targets Android 15 and use the compatibility framework to help quickly detect issues.

Take advantage of new platform features!

Go beyond getting your app ready and take advantage of new features that can make your app stand out on Android 15 devices:

    • The font file for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) languages, NotoSansCJK, is now a variable font opening up new possibilities for creative typography.
    • The ApplicationStartInfo API helps provide insight into app startup including startup state, time spent in launch phases, how your app was started when your Application class was instantiated, and more.
    • With partial screen sharing users can share or record just an app window rather than the entire device screen.
    • Generated previews allow your app widget providers to generate RemoteViews which contain live-content and accurate device theming to use as the picker preview, instead of a generic static resource.

Get started with Android 15

Today's beta release has everything you need to try out Android 15 features, test your apps, and give us feedback. Now that we’re in the beta phase, you can check here to get information about enrolling your device; Enrolling supported Pixel devices will deliver this and future Android Beta updates over-the-air. These OTAs will begin this evening PDT. If you don’t have a supported device, you can use the 64-bit system images with the Android Emulator in Android Studio. If you're already in the Android 14 QPR beta program on a supported device, you'll automatically get updated to Android 15 Beta 4.

For the best development experience with Android 15, we recommend that you use the latest version of Android Studio Koala. Once you’re set up, here are some of the things you should do:

    • Try the new features and APIs - your feedback is critical during the early part of the developer preview and beta program. Report issues in our tracker on the feedback page.
    • Test your current app for compatibility - learn whether your app is affected by changes in Android 15; install your app onto a device or emulator running Android 15 and extensively test it.
    • Update your app with the Android SDK Upgrade Assistant - The latest Android Studio Koala Feature Drop release now covers android 15 API changes and walks you through the steps to upgrade your targetSdkVersion with the Android SDK Upgrade Assistant.

Android SDK Upgrade Assistant in Android Studio Koala Feature Drop
Android SDK Upgrade Assistant in Android Studio Koala Feature Drop

We’ll update the beta system images and SDK regularly throughout the remainder of the Android 15 release cycle. Read more here.

For complete information, visit the Android 15 developer site.


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Prepare your app for the new Samsung Galaxy foldables and watches!

Posted by Maru Ahues Bouza – Product Management Director, Android Developer

Yesterday’s Galaxy Unpacked event from Samsung debuted the latest in foldables, wearables, and more! The event introduced the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6 and the Galaxy Watch7 and Watch Ultra - and it has never been easier to build apps that look great across all these screen sizes and types. To help you get your apps ready for the latest Android devices, we’re sharing how you can prepare your app for Wear OS 5 and how to build adaptive apps that scale across mobile, tablets, foldables and more!

Get your app ready for Wear OS 5

Samsung’s new Galaxy Watch lineup, including the Watch Ultra and Watch7, will be the first smartwatches powered by Wear OS 5, the latest version of the Wear OS platform. As Wear OS 5 is based on Android 14, this new platform version brings with it a number of developer-facing changes. To ensure your app is ready for the next generation of devices, start by testing your app on the Wear OS 5 Emulator!

Galaxy Watch Ultra (left) and Galaxy Watch7 (right)
Galaxy Watch Ultra (left) and Galaxy Watch7 (right)

Wear OS 5 brings the next iteration of the Watch Face Format, providing more features to create expressive, efficient and individual watch faces for your users. New watches launched with Wear OS 5 will only support third-party watch faces built with Watch Face Format, prioritizing the user experience. For more information on watch face compatibility, see this Help Center article.

As we gather momentum behind the Watch Face Format, we’re changing requirements for publishing watch faces on Google Play. Check out the watch face page for the latest guidance.

Build adaptive to scale across screen sizes and types

The latest in large screens and foldables are here, with the new Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6, so there is even more reason to ensure your app looks great across whatever screen size or folded state your users are engaging with. The best way to do that is to make your app adaptive - meaning your users get an optimal experience on all their devices. By building an adaptive app, you scale across mobile, tablets, foldables, desktop and more.

Galaxy Watch Ultra (left) and Galaxy Watch7 (right)
Galaxy Z Fold6

A great place to start when building adaptive apps is with the new Compose adaptive layout libraries. These libraries are designed to help you to make your UI look good across window sizes. From navigation UI to list/detail and supporting pane layouts, we’re providing composables to make building an adaptive app easier than ever.

Additionally, window size classes are the best way to scale your UI, with opinionated breakpoints that help you design, develop, and test responsive/adaptive layouts across various window sizes. Window size classes enable you to change your app layout as the display space available to your app changes, for example, when a device folds or unfolds, the device orientation changes, or the app window is resized in multi‑window mode.

Discover everything you need to know about building adaptive apps with the adaptive apps documentation; it will be continually updated with the latest and greatest tools and APIs to enable you to scale across screens!

Get started with Adaptive Apps and Wear OS

With these new devices, from the smallest to the largest, there are opportunities to build apps that excite your users on all their favorite Android screens. Apps like SoundCloud, Peloton, and more are already building experiences that scale across their user’s favorite screens!

Get building for Wear OS today by checking out Wear OS developer site and visiting the Wear OS gallery for inspiration. And scale your app across even more screens by building adaptive with the latest from Compose!