Android 15 continues to surprise us with its new features. The latest one? An intelligent screen saver function that turns your smartphone into a real home automation hub, all without even having to unlock it.
Android 15 will introduce “Home Controls”, a new option that allows you to control your connected devices directly from your phoneand this even if the smartphone is not unlocked. The most interesting? This feature is not reserved for Google Pixel smartphones.
To activate this quite practical function, nothing could be simpler. Simply go to the Settings of your Android device, then to the “Display and touch” section, and finally select the “Screen saver” option. Once Home Controls is activated, your smartphone will automatically display your home automation controls as soon as it is plugged in or docked.
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Versatility is there: Home Controls is compatible not only with the Google Home application, but also with Home Assistanta popular alternative for managing connected home devices.
First-time users will need to be a little patient, however. If the Google Pixels will receive the Android 15 update from October 15, the deployment on other brands will be done gradually. Motorola and Nothing have already announced their rollout plans and launched beta versions, but no stable version has been launched yet.
The technical operation of Home Controls is based on the Android SystemUI application, which integrates the activities of compatible home automation applications. Application developers also do not have no need to make any major modifications to support this featureprovided they already use the device control API introduced with Android 14.
This new intelligent screen saver function is therefore good news for those who have, for example, an old smartphone that they no longer use, since they can now easily transform it into a real home automation hub.
