A new year and a new version of Android. Google has released the first developer preview for Android 15.

This is the fifth year the preview is getting underway in February to allow developers enough time to offer feedback and update apps. There are several aspects of Android 15 to get excited about, like protecting user privacy and security. Android 15 will also focus on supporting creators and developers and maximizing app performance.

There will be new tech that “improves user privacy and enables effective, personalised advertising experiences for mobile apps”. A bigger change users will feel is partial screen sharing. Now, you can record a specific part of an app rather than the entire screen. Further, Google is adding more fitness and nutrition data types to its Health Connect platform.

There will also be camera changes, like how light improvements “give developers control to boost the brightness of the camera preview”. Also, Android 15 will allow better control of the camera flash. For music creators, Android 15 adds UMP support to virtual MIDI apps.

As for performance, Android 15 upgrades the Android Dynamic Performance Framework (ADPF). On “supported devices” running Android 15, the ADPF upgrade adds a new power-efficiency mode that will improve “long-running background workloads”.

Release date? Developer Preview 1 is available. A second developer preview is expected in March, followed by numerous beta releases between April and July. We should expect the final release in August or September.

Since this is a developer preview, it could be riddled with bugs which will be taken care of over the months.

You can use the developer preview on Google Pixel 6, Pixel 7, or Pixel 8 series devices, besides Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet. According to The Verge, The new version is coming at a time when Android phone sales continue to be behind that of Apple’s in the US.