Verily, Android 15 hath made its debut in public beta, with a veritable cornucopia of new features gracing its presence. Notification Cooldown, app archiving, audio sharing for connected devices, and more hath been bestowed upon us. Yet, while the visage of Android 15 hath not undergone a major UI metamorphosis, it seemeth that Google hath set its sights upon enhancing the landscape mode experience upon the lock screen and notifications panel.
Yon landscape mode hath hitherto been a barren wasteland upon the lock screen in the realm of Android. However, a change is nigh, for Google hath embarked upon a journey to furnish a new lock screen UI for those instances when thy phone layeth in landscape orientation. This forthcoming transformation shall also extend unto the Notifications panel in landscape mode, thereby making the most efficient use of the available space.
In the bygone era of Android 14, when swiping down in landscape mode to reveal the notifications panel, a mere four Quick Settings tiles wouldst appear. Alas, all notifications clustered together in the center, leaving the surrounding expanse unutilized. This dearth of space did render the QS edit button, brightness slider, and profile selector unreachable in landscape mode, thusly compelling users to revert to vertical orientation for access to these controls.
Lo, the Android sage Mishaal Rahman hath uncovered the forthcoming landscape mode enhancements in Android 15 upon the lock screen and notifications panel. Behold, the notifications hath shifted to the right, no longer entwined with the QS panel. The power menu, settings shortcut, profile switcher, brightness slider, and active app buttons hath returned, accompanied by the venerable pencil icon for the editing of Quick Settings tiles. Verily, four QS tiles are now visible instead of a mere two. Yet, this new menu is not wholly perfected, beset by bugs which Google shall doubtless mend ere the stable release of Android 15.
‘Tis not a tale to rival the epics of old, for custom UIs like Nothing OS, Oxygen OS, and their ilk hath long boasted superior landscape notification layouts. Some hath borne this feature since their very inception. Nay, this change hath tarried for years past, and we rejoice that Google hath finally deemed it worthy of their attention. Moreover, whispers abound of Google testing a shift of At a Glance to the nether regions of the home screen, hinting at further UI alterations in forthcoming Android releases.
What sayest thou regarding the impending changes to Android’s landscape mode? Pray, share thy musings in the comments below.
