According to reports, Android 15 will make it simpler for consumers to wirelessly charge smartphones without built-in wireless charging capabilities by enabling Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. NFC Wireless Charging (WLC), a specification introduced in 2020 that permits charging between two devices positioned at a maximum distance of 2 cm through an antenna smaller than 1 cm, may be able to support this. This technology is not currently supported by any mobile platforms, however with the release of Android 15, that may change.
The new operating system version offers major improvements in NFC functionality, according to a report by Android Authority’s Mishaal Rahman, who discovered the new development within Android 15 Beta 1 that was released earlier in April. According to reports, Android 15 will include a new class called NfcCharging, which suggests support for NFC wireless charging. The NFC class mentions “version 1.0.0” in the latest update, which can be found among the strings of codes. This suggests that this is the first iteration of the feature being added to the OS.
Tinkering with the codes, Rahman also found references to features such as starting and stopping NFC charging, reading the charging payload information which is sent through NFC, and more. It is believed that Android 15 will support WLC 2.0, which was introduced in 2021 and allows for smaller antenna size.
Interestingly, the technology has been available to incorporate for four years, but Google did not opt to integrate it earlier. However, if the report is to be believed, the addition of this technology can make users’ lives easier. While the charging output through NFC will be pretty small (up to 1W, as per the NFC forum), this could be a handy option to charge smaller devices in situations where a charging outlet is not available.
Currently, most mid-range accessories such as earbuds, stylus, and trackers do not have any wireless charging solution, but some support NFC, and including an NFC antenna could be both easier in terms of size and cost-effectiveness. However, these are early days and whether the feature will exist at launch can only be ascertained at the unveiling of Android 15 which is expected at the Google I/O event.
