Private space is not as private as it should be
Android 15 finally released in October to much anticipation. Following beta launches and testing that started as far back as February, the final release date for Pixel devices (Pixel 6 and higher) was in mid-October. Anyone whose phone is not a Google phone, will have to wait a little bit longer. But most other Android phones should have Android 15 very soon as well.
One anticipated feature was private space.
As Google says on their support page,
“To keep your sensitive apps away from prying eyes, you can set up private space, a separate space on your Android device to hide and organize apps.”
The idea of private space was that there weren’t supposed to be any notifications except on the phone itself. Some users are still getting notifications on their Wear OS watches, despite the specific apps being in private space.
As Google continues on their support page,
“There are some known issues you may experience when you use a Wear OS watch connected to a device with private space enabled.”
Although there does not appear to be any date or plan to fix the issue, the support page communicates that Google is aware of the problem. The fix will likely come with further updates to the Android 15 system as more Android phones get Android 15.
The connection could be related to apps that are in private space that also have a work badge, signifying them as work-related apps. While the phone is unlocked, the Wear OS watch sometimes gets work-related notifications from private space apps.
Android 15’s new features
Beyond this one small fix, Android 15 has plenty of new features compared to Android 14 and many happy Pixel phone and device users.
The main change is ease of use. Carrier messaging apps can still send messages with satellite, even when not connected to Wi-Fi or mobile data. A feature specific to tablets is a better layout for multitasking. Often used apps can be easily pinned and unpinned. Phone cameras can take even better pictures, with better features for apps like Instagram. AI makes it harder for thieves to access the phone. It even senses if the phone is quickly taken away and locks automatically. When parts of the device have multiple failed attempts to access, it also locks.
Google has also used AI to improve other features in Android devices, like improving the user’s interaction with the AI feature Gemini. Google shares that they are infusing AI into everything they do. So such features are likely just the beginning of how AI will be used in Android updates going forward.
Other devices should expect to get the Android 15 update soon, many as soon as December 2024. For such a vast amount of updates within Android 15, one small hiccup to private space isn’t really considered a problem. In fact, it is possible to turn off notifications to those particular work-related apps, and even that hiccup is gone.