Mar 10 2025

Android 15: New Features and API Changes for Developers

Android 15 (API level 35) brings a focused set of improvements centered on edge-to-edge UI enforcement, privacy enhancements, better camera support, and developer experience upgrades. Here is what matters most if you are targeting or planning to target API 35.

Edge-to-Edge by Default

This is the change that will affect the most apps. On Android 15, apps targeting API 35 are automatically drawn edge-to-edge. This means your content extends behind the status bar and navigation bar.

What you need to do:

  • Use WindowInsetsCompat to add padding around content that must not be hidden by system bars.
  • Replace hard-coded status bar height with ViewCompat.setOnApplyWindowInsetsListener.
  • Test on phones with gesture navigation, 3-button navigation, and different screen densities.

Predictive Back Gesture (Now Stable)

The predictive back API stabilized in Android 15. Users can now peek at the destination before fully completing the back gesture. To support this properly:

  • Set android:enableOnBackInvokedCallback="true" in your manifest.
  • Use OnBackPressedCallback (AndroidX) rather than overriding onBackPressed().
  • Jetpack Navigation handles this automatically if you are on Navigation 2.7+.

Privacy Improvements

  • Health Connect — richer APIs for fitness and health data with new permission groups.
  • Photo picker enhancements — expanded media type support, no additional permissions needed.
  • Partial screen sharing — users can share a single app window instead of the full screen.

Camera and Media

  • HDR video capture support added to Camera2 and CameraX.
  • Low-light photography improvements through new capture hints API.
  • Ultra HDR image format support in the image picker and rendering pipeline.

Performance and Battery

Android 15 includes a new app archiving feature that lets the system reclaim storage from infrequently used apps without uninstalling them. User data is preserved and the app can be restored on demand. No developer action is required to opt in — but ensure your app handles first-run setup gracefully in case users restore after archiving.

Migration Checklist

  1. Set targetSdk = 35 in your module's build file.
  2. Test edge-to-edge layout across all your screens.
  3. Verify predictive back behavior.
  4. Review any direct ACTION_MEDIA_PROJECTION usage.
  5. Test on both Android 15 emulator and a physical device.