Android 15 Beta 4 rolling out with stability improvements and bug fixes ahead of stable release

Google has released Android 15 Beta 4, marking a significant milestone in the development of its latest mobile operating system. This update, available now for compatible Pixel devices, is the last scheduled beta before the anticipated stable release later this year.

Beta 4 doesn’t introduce many flashy new features, instead focusing on stability improvements and bug fixes. This is expected at this stage, as Google aims to polish the OS for its public debut. One notable change is the complete removal of PNG-based emoji on Pixel phones, with the system now exclusively using scalable vector graphics for emoji.

The update addresses several critical issues that plagued earlier beta versions. A particularly nasty bug that could brick Pixel 6 series devices after a factory reset has been resolved. Other fixes target problems with Quick Settings tile contrast, notification settings restoration, and Face Unlock enrollment on the Pixel Fold.

Bluetooth functionality also sees improvements, with fixes for the Digital Car Key app, head-tracking services, and pairing request handling. These changes should lead to better overall connectivity and performance. The update came in at a size of 674MB on our Pixel 8.

Here’s the complete list of fixes that was shared on Reddit:

– Fixed an issue with contrast that made some elements in Quick Settings Tiles hard to read. (~Issue #340944691~)

– Fixed an issue that in some rare cases caused some Pixel devices to get stuck in an unbootable state if the device was factory reset shortly after an OTA system update was installed. (~Issue #349860641~, ~Issue #349978813~)

– Fixed an issue where sometimes an Android Virtual Device (AVD) using an Android 15 system image failed to launch if the AVD was launched in embedded mode.

– Fixed an issue that sometimes caused app notification settings to fail to be restored when restoring a device from backup.

– Fixed an issue for Pixel Fold devices that prevented a user from continuing Face Unlock enrollment if the device was folded or unfolded during the process.

– Fixed various other issues that were impacting system stability, connectivity, performance, usability, and camera.

– Fixed a bug which prevented the Digital Car Key app from performing low latency scans when running in foreground.

– Made a fix to use custom UUIDs instead of standard HOGP service UUID in Android head-tracking service.

– Use head-tracking codec capabilities to detect transport support in LE Audio stack.

– Made a fix to prevent immediate rejection of Bluetooth pairing requests when there’s a mismatch between the API-suggested transport and the transport observed by the Bluetooth stack, potentially improving pairing success rates

– Fixed an issue with Lockscreen Constant Pin Prompt (~Issue#348101427~)

For developers, Beta 4 represents the second “Platform Stability” release. This means APIs and app-facing behaviors are now finalized, allowing developers to confidently update their apps for Android 15 compatibility.

While Google hasn’t officially confirmed a release date for the stable version of Android 15, the current timeline suggests an August 2024 launch is possible. This would put the release slightly ahead of last year’s Android 14, which faced delays and arrived in October for a limited number of users.

Pixel owners enrolled in the Android Beta Program should receive the update over the next 24 hours. As always, beta software can still have bugs, so it’s wise to back up your data before installing.