Android 15 vs. 14: A boring update, but part of Google's bigger picture

After a month of delays, Android 15 is officially available. It's the seemingly smallest update we've seen from the Android team yet, sporting a handful of new features with only a few that could be categorized as "headliners."

Many of the biggest Android 15 features are found in the October Feature Drop for Pixel phones. While some of that has to do with Pixels catching up to other phones for feature parity, some of this signals a shift in Google's strategy.

Funny enough, our favorite new security features, like the new remote lock tool and theft prevention features aren't even part of Android 15 — those just so happen to coincide with the Android 15 release and are already available on all Android phones via Google Play Services. That's fine by me because it ensures more people get it right now, but it certainly doesn't help "sell" the Android 15 update.

So, what's different between Android 14 and Android 15? Not much, but that's probably OK.

OS updates are becoming less important

If there's any over-arching theme with Android 15, it's that base operating system updates are becoming less and less important. After years of being made fun of on stage during Apple's annual WWDC conference, Google modularized Android to put the onus for feature delivery on individual phone manufacturers instead of Google itself.

In other words, many of Android 15's new features might make you think, "Hey, that isn't new," if you aren't a Pixel user. It's a lot like how we poke fun at Apple for "stealing features" from Android phones each year.

Case in point, new Android 15 features like Private Space, the upgraded Bluetooth quick tile, a high-quality webcam for computers, multitasking enhancements for foldables, and true full-screen mode are all things found on the best Android phones from Samsung, OnePlus, Motorola, and others.

OnePlus is unveiling its Android 15-based update, Oxygen OS 15, on October 24, while Motorola is already testing the update out for a few lucky owners. Samsung owners, meanwhile, will have to wait until the Galaxy S25 launches to get the Android 15 update.

While news of having to wait months used to be a huge problem, users of all of these phones can feel content in the knowledge that most of the best Android 15 features are already on their phones thanks to feature-rich skins like Samsung's One UI, OnePlus's Oxygen OS, and Motorola's Hello UI.

If I'm excited about any one category of new Android 15 features, it's the ones for foldables, but those, too, are already present on a number of foldable devices. A new continuity feature lets you use an app on the big screen, then close the phone and immediately continue using that app on the cover screen.

Another new feature allows you to save split-screen app combos and pin them to the taskbar so you can quickly launch them when you need them. There's also a new persistent taskbar option that makes foldables and tablets a lot more like a laptop.

Again, all of these features were already on many tablets and foldables, but their introduction into base Android 15 means that all foldables and tablets going forward should have these features.

The Pixel is the real winner

Being a Pixel owner has always meant that you get the latest version of Android first, and this time it means you get the most features from the Android 15 update. That's because Google launched Android 15 alongside the October Feature Drop.

Aside from the aforementioned Android 15 features, Pixel owners will get a new vibration intensity slider and adaptive haptics options to adjust vibration dynamically, haptic feedback on the brightness slider, a Gemini extension for the Pixel Screenshots app, Audio Magic Eraser on more Pixel devices, a new underwater photography mode in the camera, a new temperature sensor mode in the camera, upgrades to casting and media control sharing across Pixel devices, a new volume adjustment UI, and Instagram Night Sight mode for more Pixel devices.

Even the new partial screen recorder app might be Pixel exclusive for a while if your specific manufacturer of choice opts to use their own screen recording tool. We'll just have to wait and see what gets added to those individual phone updates.

In particular, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is the biggest recipient of new features since it gets all the Android 15 features, everything from the October Pixel Feature Drop, and all the new foldable features. The lone exception is the Pixel Tablet which got some new screensaver options in the form of Photo Frame, Clock Screensaver, and Smart Home Panel Screensaver.

Android 15 is easily the most boring update for the OS yet, but it also shows the heightened importance of individual manufacturer updates. What Google debuted on its Pixel phones will look significantly different from anything on a Motorola, Samsung, OnePlus, Vivo, or Oppo phone, but that's largely OK since Google is delivering the most important security features via Google Play Services to all existing Android phones, anyway.