During its Google I/O 2024 event, the company seemed to focus primarily on AI but Android 15 was still represented, justy not as predominantly as it has been in other I/O events. That doesn’t mean the world’s most-used mobile OS is getting the short shrift, as there are plenty of new features and improvements on the horizon. One such improvement, first reported by Android Authority, is that Android 15 speeds up how quickly Android phones enter doze mode by 50%.
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Because of this speed increase, some Android devices are seeing battery life improve by up to three hours. Even better is that the improvement isn’t isolated to Pixel Phones but any phone that uses Android 15. Of course, the amount of improvement will vary from device to device but every Android phone and tablet should see longer battery life thanks to the change.
You can listen to the Android Faithful podcast, where Dave Burke (VP of Engineering for the Android Platform) and Sameer Samat (President of the Android Ecosystem) discussed how this achievement came about.
Another improvement coming into play will affect runners who use Wear OS devices. Google has claimed that marathon runs with Wear OS 5 will consume up to 20% less power than they do on Wear OS 4. As someone who regularly runs distance, this will be a welcome improvement. On long-run days, I find my Pixel Watch battery doesn’t quite go the distance it does on short-run days (or days when I’m doing other exercises).
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You can already test Android 15 on your Pixel phones by opting into the beta program. For those without Pixel devices (or who don’t want to submit their daily driver to a beta OS), the official release of Android 15 will most likely happen sometime in October 2024.
