Google has officially released the firstAndroid 15public beta, giving us a better look at what Android will become in 2024. Everybody’s still mining through the data, but we’re expecting to see some new features, new design elements, and, of course, upgraded security and privacy as is tradition at this point. More details will roll out in the following days.
Broken apps, poor battery life and forced factory resets are just a few reasons you shouldn’t install Android 15 quite yet.
With the release of the public beta, you can click a few buttons in your browser and then install Android 15 on your Pixel device over the air. It’s a much simpler process than the developer previews, which require you to factory reset your phone, but we strongly encourage you not to do it. The first few beta builds are mostly for early adopters and developers, with the latter using it so they can prepare themselves for the upcoming release, which should be sometime this fall. Broken apps, poor battery life and forced factory resets are just a few reasons you shouldn’t installAndroid 15quite yet. If that’s not enough to convince you, below you’ll find six reasons you should wait.
1Early beta builds are unstable
As previously stated, betas are mostly for developers. It exists so that the behind the scenes developers can easily see if theirapps are compatiblewith the upcoming Android release with ample time to fix the issues if there are any. Android 15 is no different in this regard, so the same logic applies as it always has.
Android 15 hasn’t been optimized for consumer use, and it manifests in random ways. That means the OS will occasionally act clunky, consume more battery, crash more often, and have other issues. There isn’t a tracker or comprehensive list of potential issues, so your mileage may vary. However, the odds are pretty good that you’ll find something wrong.
2Some of Android 15’s new features might not work right yet
Google often waits until later releases to turn everything on
Android 15 is coming with plenty of new features, including new APIs, more privacy via the Privacy Sandbox update, and better gaming via the Android Dynamic Performance Framework update. Here’s the thing, though. Many of those new features aren’t available to try yet and won’t be until later this year. This is not uncommon, as many developer previews and early beta releases don’t come with every new feature enabled.
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A famous example of this was the Material You color extraction theme from Android 12. Google didn’t include it in the developer previews or even the beta. Thus, people who wanted to see the new themes in action went through all the trouble to install Android 12 only to have to wait for a future release anyway. Android 15 will likely have features locked away until future releases as well.
3You have to factory reset to leave Android 15
Factory resets are common with betas and rollbacks
Leaving the beta program isn’t as simple as clicking a button and installing the official update and all is well. Leaving the beta willfactory reset your phone. That means going through the tedious process of backing up all of your data, installing the the official release, and then restoring everything after it’s done. That adds hours to the experience that a lot of folks didn’t know about.
Additionally, let’s say that you run into one of the other problems on this list and want to roll back to Android 14. Well, that requires another factory reset, which means you’ll have to go through the process a second time. Today’s backup methods make it a lot simpler than it used to be, but it’s still an unnecessary annoyance that you can avoid by waiting for a future Android 15 release.
4Some apps and games may not work right
Previews exist to help developers prepare for the next version of Android
As previously stated, the whole point of a developer preview is that it helps developers get their apps ready for when Android 15 officially launches later this year. They haven’t had time to optimize or fix their apps, which can lead to unstable experiences. Plus, developers haven’t had time to integrate the new APIs, soapp-specific featuressimply won’t be available on day one, or even week one.
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This is more common for games than apps these days, as most mainstream apps are optimized enough to work on Android 15. However, having apps and games behave poorly is a common issue during betas. Support will improve throughout the beta program, but it’s not worth the hassle to deal with it right now.
5It won’t look all that much different from Android 14
Design changes have been minimal over the last few years
The last few years have seen very little movement in terms of design and usability from prior versions of Android. For the most part, Google is optimizing and tweaking its existing formula rather than trying something new. Thus, even if you do go through with the installation, it’ll look and feel mostly like Android 14. Only with more bugs.
For the most part, unless Google shocks us all with a big new feature, what you’ll be looking at is something that’ll look and feel like Android 14 with some minor changes to things like the settings menu, animations, and other small bits that many folks might not even notice. Such a small difference in usability isn’t worth the drama of installing and setting up a new OS.
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6Waiting until later in the Android 15 beta is the better move
Google releases the beta for consumers to try and it’s a lot more stable
In early April, we got the first Android 15 beta. This release has bug fixes, performance improvements, and optimizations that the developer preview currently lacks. Thus, it’s a lot more stable and ready for daily use than any developer preview. Granted, it’s still not bug-free or completely optimized, but you’re much less likely to run into issues. Instead, we suggest waiting until later in the beta cycle until the Platform Stability release currently scheduled for June, before taking the plunge.
Plus, by waiting for a later beta release, you give developers time to optimize their apps for the new OS, resulting in a smoother experience all around.
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