Android 15 Developer Preview 2: satellite, PDF

Developer Preview 2 came out on 21 March 2024, five weeks after the first. It was still for developers only: Google offered no sideload images this time, so it came by flashing or over the air from Preview 1.

• Connectivity. ServiceState.isUsingNonTerrestrialNetwork() reports a satellite connection, and SMS, MMS and preloaded RCS apps can message over it. On supported devices, NfcAdapter observe mode hands the app PollingFrame objects without answering the reader.
• PDF. PdfRenderer moves to a module updated through Google Play system updates, with password-protected files, annotations, forms, search and selection. PdfRendererPreV brings it to Android 11.
• Text and intents. <nobreak> and <nohyphen> keep words on one line or unhyphenated. <uri-relative-filter-group> matches deep links on query parameters and fragments.
• App insight. ApplicationStartInfo explains why and how the app started. StorageStats.getAppBytesByDataType() splits app size by type. Force-stopped apps lose their pending intents and get BOOT_COMPLETED when the user launches them again.
• Background work. The new mediaProcessing foreground service type covers jobs such as transcoding; Google said a later beta would cap it at six hours.
• Media. setDesiredHdrHeadroom() balances HDR and SDR content, and LoudnessCodecController applies CTA-2075 loudness to AAC. Virtualizer is deprecated in favour of Spatializer.
• More. Opt-in support for the cover screens of flippable phones, screen recording detection, new SQLite APIs (read-only deferred transactions, changed-row counts), AutomaticZenRule types, icons and device effects, and, for apps targeting Android 15, elegantTextHeight true by default.