Google’s next iteration of Android 15 is actively mounting up for a stable release, as the giant has already made theAndroid 15 Beta 1.2 beta available to download. It appears that this new iteration is copying the Circle to Search feature from Samsung’s One UI 6.1. 

Google’s Circle to Search feature initially debuted on Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series smartphones in January earlier this year; later, Google announced the feature for its Pixel and more Samsung smartphones, tablets, and foldable devices. This feature helps you directly search for anything appearing on the screen by just circling the object or text that you want to search for, without even needing to switch between the apps. 

Noticeably, this feature helps you even when you are using the application in split-screen mode on Galaxy devices; unfortunately, on Google Pixel devices, the feature will not be able to function in split-screen mode. But now the reports state that Google seems to be working on overcoming this limitation with Android 15. 

This is being speculated by the Android 15 beta running on the Pixel 8 Pro device. This Pixel Launcher has a flag that, when authorized, permits you to use Circle to Search even while you are in split-screen mode, the same as Galaxy smartphones and tablets. 

However, Google has yet to officially announce its plans to offer this feature in the stable version of Android 15, but it is expected that it will do so as it would be a quite convenient addition. As of April 2024, Circle to Search is available on the Galaxy S24 series, the Galaxy S23 series, the Galaxy S23 FE, the Galaxy Tab S9, and more devices through the One UI 6.1 update.

Google’s next Android operating system, Android 15, is still in the works, and it is significantly experimenting with several new functionalities in order to offer Android users an advanced software experience. With that, some latest reports reveal that Google might appear to be experimenting with the lock screen widget support, which is coming back with Android 15. Samsung has already provided support for the lock screen widget on its Galaxy phones, but Google has now pledged to reintroduce the functionality that it had previously neglected.

Widgets make accessing any application easier; meanwhile, with Android 15, Google is currently experimenting on a minor change with the At a Glance widget, moving the widget straight at the bottom of the phone’s lock screen, which is now placed at the top underneath the date on the lock screen. Moreover, this new tweak looks exactly similar to that of the Live Activities in iOS. 

At a glance, a widget could move to the bottom of the lock screen: 

Google has been reportedly working on Android 15 to revamp the At a Glance widget on the lock screen by significantly changing its position, which seems to be a similar approach to that of the iPhones. In the Android 15 lock screen testing, Google is aiming to significantly change the position of the At a Glance widget and certainly move it to the bottom of the lock screen, which is currently located right beneath the date. 

This new change appears to be literally interactive, offering a new look to the Android’s lock screen. However, Google needs to perform plenty of work, as due to the At a Glance widget placed at the bottom, the phone’s lock screen might look fuzzy yet complicated with all the notifications and At a Glance information appearing on the screen. 

Moreover, as mentioned, Samsung already offers the capability of lock screen widgets to its Galaxy devices. Now,  with Android 15, Google is taking a significant step towards introducing the lock screen widget back to Android phones in the form of the At-a-Glance repositioning. Also, with this repositioning, Google will be required to make sure that all the widgets within the At a Glance must adapt themselves to fit the area provided on the lock screen.

Source – Android Police

Google’s next major iteration, Android 15, is actively in the developing stage and is expected to stop phones from vibrating while getting a lot of notifications. 

Google has recently made Android 15 Beta 1.2 available to download, which has brought some crucial improvements. Now reports are revealing that Android 15 will bring new functionality to enhance the users’ experience, which will force the phone to stop vibrating while getting a lot of notifications. 

Android 15’s notification cooldown reduces the volume of repeated notifications from the same application. However, at the moment, it doesn’t stop the phone from vibrating for each notification. However, we anticipate a future update to address this issue.

Speculation suggests that the reporter, while exploring the latest Android 15 Beta 1.2 update, successfully restored the notification cooldown settings page (Settings >> Notifications >> Notification cooldown), which Google had previously hidden from users in Android 15 Beta 1. According to the reports, a new toggle has been added that was previously unavailable: “vibrate when unlocked.” According to the description, this toggle makes it so the device will “only vibrate when [the] screen is unlocked.” 

By authorizing this toggle, the phone will avoid vibrating while receiving a ton of successive notifications from the same application. Notification cooldown silences Android 15 repeated notifications from a similar application, but it is possible that it could still vibrate your phone for each one. Apart from this, there’s an option to disable vibration only when your phone is unlocked. 

Users will get the power to enable “vibrate when unlocked” for peace and silence. They can disable both “vibrate when unlocked” and notification cooldown entirely to receive all notifications with vibration. Users can change the cooldown to apply only to conversations if they want silence for repetitive chats but notifications for other applications.r