Google just made an announcement that could represent the death of a lot of Android phones.
Starting with Android 15, Google says, the minimum storage capacity of devices will jump up – leaving some devices obsolete.
The new requirement will mean phones, and tablets, will need at least 32GB of capacity in order to run the Android OS.
In reality it will need to be even more, since 75% of that 32GB must be allocated to the data partition.
Add to that the fact that Android 15 is going to take up close to a full 16GB and it makes sense that Google has moved the minimum requirement up to this new threshold.
While Google has worked to keep its mobile OS as minimal as possible, it has grown to a size that means there will be little space left for apps or anything else on a device with a minimal 16GB capacity.
This means that the more affordable end of the Android smartphone market will no longer be able to make savings by offering smaller capacity devices.
The rate of growth is pretty fast when you consider that Android 13, released in 2022, required the minimum jump up from 8GB to 16GB. Now, just a few years on, that has doubled in size.
Can Google enforce the new capacity?
Technically Google can’t force manufacturers to not produce phones with smaller capacities as long as they’re using the open source version of Android (AOSP).
What Google can do, is enforce this rule on companies that want to ship phones with its Google Mobile Service(GMS) as part of the package. In order to get a GMS license the device has to meet some minimum requirements from the guidelines, including that new capacity of 32GB storage minimum.
While that might seem like something that could be circumvented, by not have a GMS license the device will not be able to access core Google services like the Google Play Store or Google Play Services.
On the plus side
This can be a good thing as it means budget phones will offer a better user experience, with smoother running.
It should also mean a greater capacity for apps and games on devices, which is never a bad thing.
