Google may force apps to go full screen on Android 15

Google has allowed Android apps to be full-screen for a while now, but many developers have yet to optimise their apps to take advantage of the large-screen Android devices, which are pretty common these days.

However, this might soon change, with a recent code spotted by Android expert Mishaal Rehman via Android Authority revealing that Google might force app developers to go full screen starting with Android 15.

In current versions of Android, app developers need to implement a couple of API changes to display content edge-to-edge since going fullscreen won’t make sense for every app, especially for apps like browsers, which have lots of interactive elements like buttons, which may overlap with the system.

While developers do have a solution to fix the issue Rehman said a code in the Android 14 QPR2 beta 3 hints that Google is preparing to enforce edge-to-edge mode for apps designed for the next version of Android.

This means apps will have to render the navigation and status bar transparent. However, these changes will go live when Google requires developers to target API 35, which will be sometime in August 2025. 

With some tinkering, Rehman said he was able to force enable the behaviour for some existing apps like Gmail and Google Leep, but the results were not good as the UI elements overlapped with the navigation and status bar, which may be why Google is giving developers some time to better optimise their apps.

The report also states that it is still unclear if Google will go through with the change with Android 15, but the tech giant recently made some changes hinting that it wants to improve the full-screen experience to draw around camera cutouts. 

If Google does go through with these changes, Android 15 will definitely offer a much more immersive experience