- Google is preparing to tweak the Pixel Launcher’s animations and feature set in Android 15.
- The Pixel Launcher app powers the home screen and recents screen on Pixel phones.
- There’s a new swipe-to-home animation that’s snappier, a new title bar in the recents screen, widget recommendations, and more.
For starters, Google is preparing to tweak the animation that plays when you swipe up on an app to return to the home screen. The new animation is faster, springier, and better highlights the wallpaper zoom effect. Here’s a screen recording that compares the swipe-to-home animation in Android 14 versus Android 15 Beta 1.
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
New widget recommendations UI in Android 15 Beta 1.
In my testing, I spotted three recommendation categories: Essentials, Social, and Entertainment. However, a quick look through the Pixel Launcher’s code reveals five other categories that can appear, including Health & fitness, News & magazines, Suggested for you, Your Chill Zone, and Weather. Interestingly, some widgets from third-party apps were recommended to me, which suggests the Pixel Launcher may be employing some algorithmic approach to recommendations instead of just using a hardcoded list.
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
Another widget-related improvement in Android 15 is the addition of a “+ Add” button in the Pixel Launcher’s widget selector. This button makes it slightly easier to add a widget to the home screen, as you’ll no longer have to press and hold and then drag the widget. Instead, you can just tap “+ Add,” and the Pixel Launcher will automatically add your choice of widget to an empty spot on the home screen.
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
Lastly, the Pixel Launcher in Android 15 is also preparing to improve the recents screen UI. The recents screen, in case you aren’t aware, is actually powered by a module within the system launcher app called QuickStep. The recents screen in Android 14 consists of a horizontal carousel of recently opened apps. That isn’t changing in Android 15, but what is changing is the method to access the menu where the buttons to open the app info page, enter split screen mode, and pause an app are located.
In Android 14, this menu is accessed by long-pressing on an app’s icon in the recents screen. This may not be obvious to some users, causing them to miss these shortcuts entirely. Android 15 might fix that by adding a small pill near the top of each app in the recents screen. This pill contains the app’s icon, name, and a dropdown arrow that opens the aforementioned menu. This change should hopefully make these buttons more easily discoverable.
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