Android 15 could make using landscape on phones better

Using your Android phone in landscape might suck a little less once Android 15 arrives.

Android expert Mishaal Rahman, writing for Android Authority, detailed various optimizations to landscape mode on phones that could arrive with the Android 15 update. These include changes to the notification drawer, Quick Settings tiles and the lock screen.

The notification drawer changes take a page straight from Android’s tablet interface and split the interface in half, putting Quick Settings tiles on the left and notifications on the right. This is a significant improvement compared to the current landscape layout, which is just a stretched-out version of the portrait layout that stacks the Quick Settings and notifications on top of each other (and leaves very little room to actually see notifications).

Landscape lock screen and notification drawer in Android 15 | Image credit: Android Authority

As for the lock screen, the big change here is that it supports landscape in the first place. Stock Android 14 doesn’t allow the lock screen to rotate, so this is a pretty significant change. Rahman notes that the landscape lock screen works similarly to the tablet lock screen, with the time and weather appearing on the left and notifications showing on the right.

Rahman also noted that the landscape interfaces have been around for a while, dating back as far as the Android 14 QPR1 Beta. However, the versions of Android 15 are still unfinished and buggy, so it remains to be seen if Google will be able to get them ready for the Android 15 launch.

Source: Android Authority