Google has released the second developer preview of Android 15. As usual, since the company is initially targeting developers, the announcement is primarily focused on changes that app and game makers need to know. But also, as usual, observers have started to dig in and find other changes.
Mishaal Rahman has posted some of his findings in threads on social media, and has written a few articles for websites including Android Police and Android Authority highlighting some specific features.
In other recent tech news from around the web, MediaTek has unveiled a new line of chips featuring NVIDIA RTX graphics… but they’re for cars, not smartphones. Qualcomm says even if game developers don’t port their titles to run natively on PCs with Snapdragon X Elite chips, many should still run well. And Microsoft is bringing a spellcheck feature to Notepad.
The Second Developer Preview of Android 15 [Android Developers Blog]
Android 15 Dev Preview 2 brings support for satellite SMS/MMS/RCS messaging, improved PDF rendering, and an opt-in feature that lets developers indicate that their apps are compatible with the small cover screens on flip phones.
Android 15 is fixing one of the worst parts of the Pixel’s webcam feature [Android Authority]
Android 15 developer preview 2 adds a “high quality mode” option when using an Android phone as a USB webcam, which should allow it to offer image & video quality on par with what you’d get from third-party apps.
Samsung seems to be adopting seamless updates for new phones [@[email protected]]
Samsung has been one of the last major Android phone makers not to use Google’s “seamless” or A/B update system. But it looks like that may finally be changing, starting with the Galaxy A55 mid-range phone.
Qualcomm says most Windows games should ‘just work’ on its unannounced Arm laptops [The Verge]
Qualcomm says most PC games will work on upcoming computers with Snapdragon X Elite chips. GPU performance is said to be unaffected, while x86_64 code is run in emulation (with slight overhead, but “extremely efficient” caching. Games that user a kernel driver for anti-cheat systems or other purposes may not work though. The best performance will come from games where developers port their titles to run natively on ARM.
Spellcheck in Notepad begins rolling out to Windows Insiders [Microsoft]
Microsoft is bringing a spellcheck feature to Notepad, beginning with Canary and Dev Channel builds of Windows 11. It can be toggled on and off, but it’s off by default for log files and some other apps “typically associated with coding.”
MediaTek Brings Advanced AI Capabilities to Vehicles [MediaTek
MediaTek has launched its first chips with NVIDIA RTX graphics… but they’re designed for automotive systems rather than smartphones, tablets, or PCs. The new Dimensity Auto Cockpit chips support on-device AI and multiple displays.
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I miss the Android 11 swipe down UX… it just got so ugly and huge buttons from 12 and on.
Yeah, I suppose they really do NEED RTX graphics in a freaking car to comply with US and EU mandates to watch your face constantly to try and calculate if you’re falling asleep or under the influence right this moment.
I looking forward to seeing if the number of false alarms that could end up giving off will be so great that it’ll make people hate driving, especially considering that anything too old is set to become a “Residual Vehicle” on which repairs are forbidden, limiting options to avoid this.