Android 15, due to be released in the Fall, might be able to extend battery life for users if a new feature found by Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman makes it to the final release. A string of code with the title of “Adaptive timeout” alongside the description “Automatically turns off your screen early if you’re not using your device” appears in the Android 15 Developer Preview 2 release.
Currently, Android has a default behavior that will turn a device’s screen off after 30 seconds of inactivity. The device will then be locked five seconds after that. However, a user can dig into the settings and change this to extend how long it takes for these behaviors to kick in but it’s not dynamic. If it makes it to final release, the new feature will change that.
While the description found in the code doesn’t explain how Android will be able to detect when the screen will be turned off, it’s most likely going to rely on the front facing camera and other sensors. Android already does something similar to this, just in reverse. Its screen attention feature lets a device remain unlocked and screen on while a user is still looking at the screen but not directly interacting with the device.
There’s an important caveat to all of this. Rahman notes that the code is present in a section of the codebase that indicates the feature will not be making its way to the open-source version of Android (AOSP). Instead, it will only be included in builds destined for Google Pixel devices capable of running Android 15.
It’s great that Pixel users will most likely have this new feature with the upcoming release of Android 15 but, disappointing more of the Android user base might miss out. Hopefully other manufacturers are able to implement this with their own devices.