Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is preparing to revamp the Settings app in Android 15 to make it more organized.
- In Beta 3, new code reveals how the top-level settings page will organize entries into visually distinct sections.
- This change will make it easier and faster to find the submenu you are looking for.
If you open the Android Settings app in the latest Android 15 beta, you won’t see any changes, because there aren’t any. However, a future version of Android 15 could bring a revamped top-level settings page, according to a Android Authority analysis.
A Teardown of the APK helps predict features that might come to a service in the future based on current work code. However, these planned features may not be available in a public release.
Currently, if you look at the layout of the top-level settings page in, say, Android 14 on a Pixel phone, there’s no real rhyme or reason why certain menu items are where they are. find. Some of the most frequently accessed menu items are placed earlier in the list, but otherwise there is no particular order. Additionally, because there are so many different menu items grouped into the top-level page, it can be difficult for new Pixel users to quickly find the page they’re looking for.
Fortunately, Android 15’s revamped top-level settings page will place similar menu items next to each other in visually distinct sections. This revamped top-level page isn’t yet available since the latest Android 15 Beta 3 update is currently rolling out, but we have an idea of what the layout will look like.
For reference, here’s the order of the top-level settings page entries in Android 14 on Pixel phones, alongside how the top-level settings page might be organized in a future version of Android 15:
Android 14 top-level settings layout (current):
- Network & Internet
- Hub Mode (Pixel tablet only)
- Connected devices
- apps
- Notifications
- Battery
- Storage
- Sound and vibration
- Display
- Wallpaper and style
- Accessibility
- Security and Privacy
- Location
- Safety and emergency
- Passwords, access keys and autofill
- Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls
- System
- About the phone
- Advice and support
Android 15 top-level settings page (coming soon):
- Network & Internet
- Connected devices
— - apps
- Notifications
- Sound and vibration
- Hub Mode (Pixel tablet only)
- Display
- Wallpaper and style
— - Storage
- Battery
- System
- About the phone
— - Security and Privacy
- Location
- Passwords, access keys and accounts
— - Safety and emergency
- Accessibility
- Advice and support
Finally, here’s a screenshot showing the top-level settings in Android 14 alongside a mock-up of what I think the top-level settings page will look like in an upcoming Android 15 release.
You will immediately notice two entries missing from the Android 15 list: “Google” And “Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls.” The reason they are missing is not because Google removes them, but rather because they are not listed in the (currently unused) file top_level_settings_v2 XML file of the preference screen. In fact, neither entry is listed in the top_level_settings XML preference screen currently read by the Settings application to determine the top-level page layout.
So how do these two entries end up on the page? The Google Play Services and Digital Wellbeing apps use a system API only to inject their respective entry points into the Settings app. Unfortunately, because of this, I’m not sure where “Google” and “Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls” will end up. Still, if I had to guess, I’d put them both under the “Passwords, Access Keys, and Accounts” entry.
Another thing to note about the list above: the dashes indicate where each section begins and ends. Although there is currently no header between each section, it appears that the sections are categorized as follows: Account, Connectivity, Customize, System Information, Security & Privacy, and Support. “Connectivity” category includes “Network & Internet” and “Connected Devices”, “Support” category includes “Security & Emergency”, “Accessibility” and “Advice & Support”, etc. The first top level “Account” category is empty, so I’m not sure what will be placed there, but regardless, it will be at the very top of the page.
What other settings-related changes are there in Android 15 Beta 3?
Although the top-level Settings page redesign isn’t yet available in Android 15 Beta 3, the update brought a few other minor changes to the Settings app. For example, the “Device and app notifications” entry under Settings > Notifications has been renamed to “Read, reply, and check notification.” “Screen activation control” replaces “Activate screen” under Settings > Apps > Special app access. Finally, the description of the “Allow camera software extensions” toggle under Settings > Security & Privacy > More Security & Privacy has been changed to the following:
Android 15 Beta 2.2: “Enables the default software implementation of advanced camera features, such as Eyes Free videography. »
Android 15 Beta 3: “Enables the default software implementation of advanced camera features, such as HDR, Night, or other camera extensions. »
“Eyes Free Videography” referred to the new Camera2 vendor extension in Android 15 that allows third-party camera apps to use an OEM-provided algorithm to lock and stabilize a given region or object of interest. Google changing the description of the “Allow camera software extensions” toggle to remove the reference to “Eyes Free Videography” could indicate that they are not ready to provide a software implementation of this particular extension. However, it’s worth noting that the description suggests that default software implementations of HDR, Night, “or other camera extensions” might be supported, which could still include the new “Eyes Free Videography” mode.