Google is preparing for the official launch of Android 15. The Android Preview program, which started in February 2024, will continue until the stable version is released, expected by the end of 2024. Meanwhile, the Android 15 Developer Preview 2, released in March, seems to include a new feature that will help extend the battery life of your Android device.
While there is already a function that allows you to choose the time your phone will stay on before the screen turns off, and another one that keeps the screen on longer if you are looking at it, the newly discovered function serves the opposite purpose.
Mishaal Rahman, an Android expert and writer for Android Authority, has found code strings related to a new adaptive timeout feature in the second version of Android 15 Developer Preview. The strings describe that when enabled, the setting “automatically turns off the screen early if you’re not using the device”.
Right now, it is not clear how Android 15 will know when a phone is not being used. As such, it is likely to use the same detection method as the current screen attention setting. Rahman discovered the following strings in the Android 15 Developer Preview 2 settings app, which point to the new functionality:
<string name=”contextual_timeout_description”>Automatically turns off the screen early if you are not using the device</string>.
<string name=”contextual_timeout_title”>Adaptive Timeout</string>
Specifically, these strings are found in com.google.* and, according to Rahman, this means that the adaptive timeout feature will likely be launched as a Pixel exclusive. This aligns with the debut of the screen attention feature on the Pixel 4, which has since been expanded to other smartphones.
