Although it was hinted at in prior releases, Android 15 Beta 3 has now added the “Adaptive timeout” toggle to Pixel Display Settings.
This new toggle looks like it will go beyond the current “Screen timeout” controls that can be set from 15 seconds all the way to 30 minutes. So long as you have enabled a screen lock, your phone will lock itself after this predetermined period of inactivity to keep your device safe. To prevent this from being overzealous, there is a “Screen attention” toggle that will use your front-facing camera to work out if you are looking at your display and prevent your Pixel from locking itself based on your timeout preferences.
In Android 15 Beta 3, the new “Adaptive timeout” option is present. This “automatically turns off your screen if you’re not using your device.” It’s not clear how this is determined but it could use some of the on-device hardware such as the front-facing camera and proximity sensors at the top of your device to determine if you are using your phone and keep unlocked or lock based on this context.
Sadly, this doesn’t appear to work right now. In our testing, if you are running Android 15 Beta 3, your Pixel will just adhere to the screen timeout settings and even when toggled the “Adaptive timeout” option is just ignored.
The addition of an adaptive screen timeout option expands on the quality of life additions littered throughout the Android 15 Beta so far. While it isn’t yet functional, it joins a number of other refinements present in the latest preview release. You can see all of the new additions here or check out our hands-on video below:
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