Android 15 is gearing up to make it easier for your grandma to use her phone
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority TL;DR Code from the latest Android beta suggests Google could introduce a new “easy preset” mode that optimizes the readability of the user interface. Android is full of settings and features that can make it confusing or complicated to use for people who aren’t tech-savvy or have vision problems. This […]
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Code from the latest Android beta suggests Google could introduce a new “easy preset” mode that optimizes the readability of the user interface.
- Android is full of settings and features that can make it confusing or complicated to use for people who aren’t tech-savvy or have vision problems.
- This simple preset mode changes settings like icon and text size, navigation mode, etc.
Google has just released the first beta of Android 14 QPR3, which will be the third quarterly release of the Android 14 platform when it goes stable in June. After installing the beta on my Pixel phone, I discovered a hidden settings page for a new feature called “easy preset.” This mode, from what I’ve found, seems to be a way to make Android easier to use for people who aren’t as tech savvy as readers of Android Authority or who may have vision problems.
A Teardown of the APK helps predict features that might come to a service in the future based on current work code. However, these planned features may not be available in a public release.
Hidden in Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1 are strings that explain what this simple new preset mode will do. According to these channels, Simple Preset Mode optimizes the Android UI for “improved readability and ease of navigation.” It specifically does this by “enlarging icons and text, adding contrast and boldness, and adding navigation buttons to the bottom of the screen.”
Coded
Quick access
Easy pre-set optimizes for improved readability and ease of navigation
Easy pre-set improves readability by enlarging icons and text, adding contrast and bold, and adding navigation buttons to the bottom of the screen.
Enable easy pre-set
Easy pre-set Although we were able to manually launch the settings page for this simple new preset feature, we have not yet been able to activate the new mode. However, we discovered an additional change that this mode makes when activated: the current wallpaper is replaced with a pure black image.
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
It’s good to see Google adding a feature like this to stock Android. Many other OEMs offer functionality similar to this, and there are even third-party launcher apps on Google Play designed for use by the elderly or less tech-savvy among us.
Although this feature is present in the Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1 build, it is unlikely that Google plans to release this feature with the stable Android 14 QPR3 update in June. It’s more likely that Google will release this feature as part of Android 15 later this year, and the appearance of this feature in the QPR3 beta is simply because Google is working on QPR and Android 15 builds simultaneously .
Once Google launches the Android 15 developer preview, we’ll have a better idea of where this feature fits. This can happen at any time, so be sure to follow Android Authority to discover what’s new in the next version of Android!
