Android 15 appears to address an annoying limitation you currently bump into while screen recording or casting

Android 15 is just around the corner, and with it, we’re about to say goodbye to one of the most frustrating quirks of screen recording and casting on Android. The long-awaited stable version is only a week away from landing on our phones, but thanks to some tinkering in the latest betas, we’re already getting a glimpse of one delightful change coming to screen sharing: the ability to switch apps without breaking the flow of your screen recording or cast.

If you’ve ever tried recording or casting a single app on Android, you know the pain. You start sharing one app, everything is smooth, but the moment you dare to switch to another app, the recording pauses, and if you’re casting, your display on the other end goes black. The only solution so far has been to stop everything and start all over again — a hassle, especially when all you wanted was a seamless screen-sharing experience. Well, Google heard the complaints, and it looks like Android 15 is stepping in to save the day.

Here’s the magic Google is working on: a feature that lets you smoothly change the app you’re recording or casting without stopping the session. That’s right! Google is working on a seamless app switch while keeping your recording or casting alive.

How do we know? Android sleuth Mishaal Rahman, known for his deep dives into the code, discovered a flag buried in Android 15’s source code that enables what Google calls “partial screen sharing” with a task switcher. Essentially, this will allow you to jump between apps during a recording or casting session, with a new notification popping up to offer options: “share this app instead” or “switch back” to your original app.

The current situation on Android 15 Beta is that while the notification appears when you switch apps during a recording or cast, only the “switch back” option works for now. But it’s a clear sign that Google is cooking up a more user-friendly screen-sharing system.

This “task switcher for partial screen sharing” was initially rolled out in a limited fashion back in Android 14, but the feature wasn’t as robust or widespread. However, with the impending full release of Android 15, this much-improved version will be available for all devices, not just Pixels. Android 15 even adds a slick status bar chip to show you the recording duration and let you stop the session without going through the hassle of pulling down the status bar.

While the feature isn’t fully operational yet in the beta, it’s safe to assume that it will likely be polished in time for one of the upcoming updates. Keep your fingers crossed that when Android 15 lands, this feature is fully baked into the final release. It might seem like a small improvement, but if you’ve ever struggled with Android’s clunky screen recording restrictions, you know this fix will be a game-changer.

Android 15 isn’t just about big headline features — it’s also about these quality-of-life updates that make using the platform that much sweeter.