Summary

  • Google released Android 15 Beta 2.1 to fix an issue with the new private space feature, ensuring icons don’t disappear from the home screen.
  • This update is considered minor, with no noted changes beyond fixing the icon issue. Eligible Pixels are receiving the update starting today.
  • Users updating from Beta 2 may see a larger initial download size, but subsequent checks should result in a much smaller update.



Almost a month after Beta 1.2 and a full day of AI announcements at I/O 2024, Google rather unceremoniously rolled out Android 15 Beta 2 towards the middle of last week. But here we are five days later and the next version of Android just got its second update in less than a week.

Google announced Android 15 Beta 2.1 on Reddit today and stated that the main point of the update is to fix an issue with the new private space feature where icons for apps you added to the space were hidden from the home screen. The full release notes admit that this is a “minor update” that begins rolling out to all eligible Pixels today, and it still carries the same May 2024 security patch date as Beta 2, so not much else has changed. The build number for this update is AP31.240426.023, and it ships with Play Services version 24.15.18.

Android 15 Beta 2.1 (May 2024)

This minor update to Android 15 Beta 2 fixes the issue where creating a private space on a device for the first time removed app icons from the Home screen (or Home screens if more than one Home screen had been added). (
Issue #340868295
)

All eligible devices enrolled in the
Android Beta for Pixel program
will be offered an over-the-air (OTA) update to Beta 2.1.


Interestingly, the new version clocked in at 2.57GB on one of our devices before downloading. However, after rebooting without applying the update, the version offered up on a second check was only 12.12MB. It appears that Google may have initially sent out the full OTA to everyone, regardless of the previous version installed. Now, checking for updates should yield a much smaller number if you’re updating from Android 15 Beta 2.