The final version of Android 15 should be here fairly soon, probably within a month given that the Pixel 9 is currently scheduled to launch on August 13 However, there is still work to be done before Android 15 is fully ready, and the latest beta release should help move things forward

If all goes as planned, Android 15 Beta 4 should be the last major release before Android 15 is released to the masses Google has also revealed that this is the second “Platform Stability” release, meaning that developers can start preparing their apps for full integration with the Android 15 OS ahead of the public release

Of course, new beta versions come with new changes None of them are particularly significant, as the appropriate time to release new features is long past But that does not make these changes any less important These are tweaks that Google needs to make to ensure that Android 15 is up-to-date

According to Google, the main change is the removal of the traditional PNG-centric emoji in favor of vector graphics Vector graphics support was first launched with Android 13 and is currently the only option on Pixel phones However, with the launch of Android 15, it will be the only option for emoji The advantage of vector graphics is that they are infinitely scalable and can be expanded without pixelation

On top of that, there are a huge number of bug fixes, including one designed to prevent Pixel 6 devices from becoming bricked if the user resets the phone immediately after an Android software update

Pixel Fold owners will also notice that folding and unfolding the device during the process does not stop face registration to Face Unlock

Other fixes include a contrast issue that makes the Quick Settings tile difficult to read, and app notification settings are not restored after restoring the device from a backup

Digital Car Key can now perform low-latency scans when running in the foreground, the head-tracking codec now detects transport support in the LE Audio stack, and Google has “fixed the API's suggested immediately reject Bluetooth pairing requests when there is a mismatch between transports”

The Android m15 system image no longer fails to boot when the Android Virtual Device boots in embedded mode Additionally, the Android head tracking service now uses a custom UUID instead of the standard HOGP service UUID

Finally, there is the usual series of fixes to areas that were affecting the overall stability of the Android system, such as connectivity, performance, usability, and cameras

This is very technical and these fixes are not well known to the majority of Android users But the point here is that Android is fixing all of these minor issues for the final release; the problems and fixes in Android 15 will not be the end of the story, and as more people use the software, more problems will emerge

But for now, the Android 15 beta seems to be in good shape for the official release Hopefully there will not be a major delay like there was last year