Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Android 15 QPR2 is introducing the new Modes feature we previously discovered.
- Modes are basically highly customizable Do Not Disturb schedules, complete with their own name and icon.
- The feature is available in the first Android 15 QPR2 beta and is expected to be available in the stable release in March of 2025.
If you want to shut off any distractions, turning on Android’s Do Not Disturb mode will go a long way. When Do Not Disturb is enabled, alerts from messages, phone calls, alarms, and apps are highly restricted. While you can customize Do Not Disturb to run on a schedule or allow certain alerts to go through, you can’t create multiple versions of Do Not Disturb with different rules to suit your needs. That’s changing with the second quarterly platform release of Android 15.
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Google released Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1 earlier today, and after installing the generic system image (GSI) on my Pixel phone, I noticed that there was a new menu for Modes in Settings. This new feature didn’t come as a surprise to me since I’ve already posted about it several times before, but what did surprise me is that it’s here in Android 15 QPR2 instead of Android 16.
In any case, the Modes feature in Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1 works exactly as we described before. You can create many different Modes, each with their own icon, name, activation trigger, display settings, and notification settings. You can manually toggle Modes from either the Settings app or from the new Modes Quick Settings tile. You can choose from 40 different icons when creating a custom Mode, and the icon that you choose will appear in the status bar, lock screen, and always-on display when the Mode is activated.
I didn’t expect Google to transform Do Not Disturb into Modes until Android 16 at the earliest, which is expected to roll out in Q2 of 2025. Thus, it’s a pleasant surprise to see Modes appear early in the Android 15 QPR2 beta, which is anticipated to go stable in March of 2025. We’re still digging through Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1, and if we find anything else that’s new, we’ll be sure to let you all know.
