With the release of the first Developer Preview of Android 15, I was a bit excited to dive in and see what’s new. To my surprise, the feature I was most looking forward to, Private Space, is still MIA.
What is Private Space: Private Space is Android’s native solution and answer to Samsung’s Secure Folder. With it, users can lock apps from being opened on the device without the use of biometrics or a lock code. For folks who have sensitive information on their device, this can be very important. While Google Photos’ Locked Folder has been a great addition for securing photos and videos you don’t wish to be seen, we still need full app lockdown capabilities, in my opinion.
So Where Is It: Last we heard about Private Space was back in December of 2023. At the time, it was still a complete unknown if Google intended to release it for Android 15 or maybe use it as a Feature Drop exclusively for Pixel devices. The latest intel leads most to believe it’s coming for Android 15, though. That’s the hope, as everyone who owns an Android should have a feature such as this should they want/need it.
With the first Developer Preview now past us, there’s no cause for alarm. The first DP is almost entirely used for backend developer stuff, with minimal new features showcased. Once we start getting deeper into previews and betas, then we should see what Android 15 truly has in store for Android phone owners. Fingers are crossed we learn more about this feature soon.
And to the security bros who will call Private Space a non good way to secure things on your mobile phone, we get it, you’re too cool. One good piece of critique I saw regarded biometrics. It would be neat if for my phone I could use my thumb to unlock, but then for Private Space, I could use a secondary finger or maybe facial recognition. The idea being that one lock wouldn’t be able to open the other. Just something to ponder.