Android 15 Beta 2 provides help for 16 KB pages

The Android improvement workforce has introduced the second beta of Android 15, which is now accessible on extra gadgets moreover simply Pixels, together with these from Honor, iQOO, Lenovo, Nothing, OnePlus, OPPO, Realme, Sharp, Tecno, vivo, and Xiaomi.

Android 15 may even help 16 KB web page sizes (along with the usual 4 KB), which can require builders who use NDK libraries to rebuild their app to work on the bigger web page sizes. In line with the Android workforce, 16 KB pages provide efficiency enhancements similar to decrease app launch occasions when the system is underneath reminiscence stress, decreased energy draw throughout launches, sooner digital camera launch, and improved system boot time. 

“As gadget producers proceed to construct gadgets with bigger quantities of bodily reminiscence (RAM), many of those gadgets will undertake 16 KB (and finally larger) web page sizes to optimize the gadget’s efficiency. Including help for 16 KB web page dimension gadgets permits your app to run on these gadgets and helps your app profit from the related efficiency enhancements. We plan to make 16 KB web page compatibility required for app uploads to Play Retailer subsequent yr,” David Burke, VP of engineering for Android, wrote in a weblog publish. 

This beta additionally provides a brand new requirement for apps operating within the background to have the ability to begin foreground providers. Foreground providers utilizing the “SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW” permission exemption must have a visual overlay when focusing on Android 15. 

One other change in Android 15 is the introduction of ANGLE (Nearly Native Graphics Layer Engine) as an extra layer to run the graphics rendering API OpenGL ES on prime of Vulkan, which is an interface for Android GPUs. 

In line with Burke, transferring the ANGLE will assist standardize the Android implementation of OpenGL, main to higher compatibility and efficiency. By 2026, OpenGL ES will solely be accessible by means of ANGLE. 

Different new options within the Android 15 beta embody new performance in Android’s Canvas graphics system, improved AV1 software program decoding, new permission checks on content material URIs, and extra. 

Learn the weblog publish on Android 15 Beta 2 for extra data.