Android 15 could bring something neat and tidy for your grandma

Today’s presumptions are tomorrow’s realities. There’s an interesting finding in the latest Android 14 QPR3 beta that could turn out to be a full-blown feature in the upcoming Android 15.

Google may introduce a new “easy pre-set” mode that optimizes the operating system’s UI for readability (via Android Authority). In other words, this should make an Android phone easier to use by people who aren't tech-savvy (your grandma?) or who have impaired vision.

Android is chock-full of settings and features that could be confusing to navigate through, and the alleged “easy pre-set” mode could change things like the icon and text size, navigation mode, and more to make them larger and easier to operate with.

Android expert Mishaal Rahman Google found some code in the Android 14 QPR3 beta (which will be the third quarterly platform release of Android 14 when it goes stable in June) pointing to a hidden settings page for a new feature called “easy pre-set”.

According to these code findings, the “easy pre-set” mode will optimize the Android UI for “improved readability and ease of navigation.” It specifically does so by “enlarging icons and text, adding contrast and bold, and adding navigation buttons to the bottom of the screen.”

Mishaal was able to manually launch the settings page for this new easy pre-set feature but wasn’t able to actually enable the new mode just yet. However, this mode makes a change when it’s enabled: the current wallpaper is swapped with a pure black image.