7 Android 15 features you can bring to any phone today

No Android 15? No problem. You can still enjoy some of the fancy new features from Google’s latest Android version — no matter who made your current device or how old it might be.

Android 15 officially landed in the world with a bit of a thud in early September, when Google released the software’s source code, but the first real rollout only just got going this week — with current Pixel devices, as usual, being at the front of the pack.

How long it’ll take other Android device-makers to follow suit is, as always, an open question. (Seriously — have you seen my breakdowns over time?!) But while we can’t force those companies to make timely software support more of a priority, we can get out ahead of ’em and get creative to bring some Android-15-inspired splendor your way.

Here, specifically, are seven Android 15 features you can add onto any Android phone today — along with two bonus features that were under development but didn’t quite make the cut into this latest Android update.

Get ready for a massive upgrade to your Android experience — no official rollouts needed.

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Android 15 feature #1: Private Space

Up first is the highest profile new Android 15 feature — and, in many ways, the easiest one to emulate on devices that aren’t yet running Android 15.

It’s called Private Space, and it’s essentially a way to add an extra layer of security onto sensitive apps or apps with especially important info. You can require authentication to open such apps and even hide ’em completely out of sight in a special locked-down area of your app drawer, if you really want to keep ’em tucked away.

JR Raphael, IDG

📲 To bring the feature onto a non-Android-15 device: First, if you’re using a phone made by Samsung or OnePlus, it’s likely you already have a similar sort of feature on your device and just waiting to be found! Try searching your system settings for either secure folder or app lock to see if it’s there.

Otherwise, a third-party app called Applock Pro can bring something similar onto any Android gadget. It isn’t quite as secure as an operating-system-integrated option, since someone could technically uninstall it. But it’s the next-best thing, and it has some mechanisms for masking itself to minimize the odds of anyone even noticing its presence.

Android 15 feature #2: App pairs

One of the most useful Android 15 features is the ability to create preset pairs of apps that then open together in a ready-to-roll split screen with just a single tap on your home screen.

JR Raphael, IDG

📲 To bring the feature onto a non-Android-15 device: A thoughtful and delightfully simple little tool called Be Nice can bring this same exact power onto any Android device. Check out my complete guide to getting it going in a mere 20 seconds.

Android 15 feature #3: An idle-time control panel

Your idly charging Android device is more useful than ever with Google’s new Android 15 Home Controls screen saver. And while the name may sound about as non-work-related as possible, don’t be fooled: You can fill that panel up with any combination of connected-device controls you want, ranging from thermostats to lights and all sorts of other workday-aiding points of easy access (especially if you’ve got a home office).

JR Raphael, IDG

📲 To bring the feature onto a non-Android-15 device: The aptly named Widget Screensaver app is the key to bringing this very same intelligence onto whatever device you’re using. Just set it up, following my guide, and be sure to select the Google Home “Favorites” widget during the configuration.

Android 15 feature #4: Theft protection

Google’s touting a trio of new theft protection features as part of its Android 15 rollout, but in actuality, you don’t need Android 15 to get any of those elements in your life.

📲 To bring the feature onto a non-Android-15 device: Read this guide to activating Google’s latest Android security enhancements, and you’ll be up and running with the official additions in a matter of minutes.

Android 15 feature #5: A fresh volume panel

Android 15 adds a spruced-up volume panel into the operating system — with larger, more easily adjusted sliders for specific sorts of media volumes as well as a more prominent button to shift your phone’s audio output from the phone itself to any connected devices.

JR Raphael, IDG

📲 To bring the feature onto a non-Android-15 device: The secret here is a saucy little app called Precise Volume 2.0. It replaces your standard system volume panel with a completely customizable alternative — and, as I outline in this easy-to-follow guide, one of its options is emulating the Android 15 volume interface.

Android 15 feature #6: Expanded app names

A small but welcome feature in Android 15 is a new toggle within Google’s Pixel Launcher settings that lets you stop the system from cutting off the names of longer apps in your app drawer.

It’s a subtle touch, for sure — but man, is it a nice one.

📲 To bring the feature onto a non-Android-15 device: Most custom Android launchers offer similar sorts of controls. I’d look at the time-tested Nova Launcher, if you’re aiming to create something close to a standard setup but with lots more flexibility.

Android 15 feature #7: App archiving

When you’ve got an app you aren’t actively using but don’t want to uninstall entirely, Android 15 can archive it for you — meaning the software compresses it, in a sense, and keeps the core files present while removing lots of space-taking and permission-requiring elements.

Then, if you ever want to use the app again, you can simply restore it and pick right back up where you left off.

📲 To bring the feature onto a non-Android-15 device: This one’s easy — ’cause in a rarely realized twist, the same sort of system actually launched as a feature of the Android Play Store last year! Just open up the Play Store on your device, tap your profile picture in the upper-right corner, and select “Settings.” Then, tap the “General” section and look for the “Automatically archive apps” toggle to fire up the system and get it going.

Android 15 bonus feature #1: Notification cooldown

One of the most intriguing under-development Android features is something that didn’t ultimately make the cut for Android 15 but may show up in a future quarterly update or perhaps even another Android version down the line — and that’s something Google’s calling notification cooldown.

It’s an option to “gradually lower the notification volume when you get many successive notifications from the same app” — either in general or specific only to notifications that are considered “conversations.” That way, when someone messages you in a rapid-fire style, you can avoid getting annoying alert after annoying alert at a rate of one ding per every seven seconds.

📲 To bring the feature onto a non-Android-15 device: As long-time Android Intelligence readers know, you can grant yourself that very same sanity-saving superpower with even more versatility on any device right now — if you know where to look.

Android 15 bonus feature #2: Lock screen widgets

Android 15 had been rumored for a while to reintroduce the concept of lock screen widgets — more than a decade after the feature was first launched and then promptly killed for no apparent reason.

While that hasn’t yet happened and seems to be something being saved for a future release, you can give yourself that same efficiency-enhancing ability this second on any Android device — with far more flexibility and compatibility than Google’s own native system is even likely to provide.

📲 To bring the feature onto a non-Android-15 device: Follow the steps in this Android lock screen widgets guide, and get ready to enjoy levels of advanced awesomeness few mere mortals ever encounter.

And there ya have it — seven Android 15 features and two extra features not even present in Android 15 that are at your fingertips today. You may be waiting a while longer yet for Android 15 itself to reach you, but with these readily available upgrades, you won’t be missing out on too much in the meantime.

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