Foreign media androidheadlines recently posted that Android 15 may update the mobile phone's NFC stack through Google Play. Google has been working hard to eliminate the fragmentation of the Android ecosystem. Fragmentation refers to the different implementations of the Android operating system, which is not a problem because Google intends to let device manufacturers tailor Android to their needs. However, this makes OS updates difficult. Google came up with Project Mainline as a solution in 2019.
The project packages certain operating system components into modules that are distributed directly by Google, rather than by the device OEM. This makes it easier to update across devices. Instead of waiting for a specific OEM or carrier to combine, test, and distribute security or feature updates to core OS components, users can hand them over to Google.
When there is an update to the Project Mainline module, Google pushes the update to everyone through the Google Play Store's Google Play system update mechanism. Since the Project Mainline module is signed by Google, updates can be pushed even on devices from other manufacturers.
Check for Google Play system updates in Android
Android 15 or turn the NFC stack into an updatable Project Mainline module
Project Mainline only included 12 modules when Android 10 debuted. Over time, Google has modularized more of the Android part. In Android 14, the number of modules that can be updated has increased to 37. In the upcoming Android 15 update, the total number of Project Mainline modules may increase to 40. In the first Android 15 beta released earlier today, I found three new APEX packages: com.android.nfcservices, com.google.android.crashrecovery, and com.google.android.profiling.
APEX is the package format used by Project Mainline, which means that these three packages could be new Mainline modules. But I call it "probably" because there are APEX packages that are not part of Project Mainline and their updates are not handled by Google Play System Update. We'll have to wait until Android 15 is released to determine if these modules fall into this case.
The first mentioned APEX package com.android.nfcservices is the most attractive because it contains Android's NFC stack. NFC (Near Field Communication) is an ultra-short-range wireless communication technology that is commonly used for contactless payments. Putting Android's NFC stack into an APEX module, Google is preparing to turn it into an updatable Project Mainline module. Actually, I heard about this plan back in May 2023.
In Android 15 Beta 1, the NFC stack is now part of the APEX package.
Pave the way for faster rollout of security fixes and new features
Making the NFC stack easier to update means that Google can roll out security fixes and new features to users sooner. For example, Android 15 brings a lot of new features to the NFC stack. One of the new features is the new Observation Mode, which aims to make tap-to-pay "smoother and more reliable". Once devices start carrying Android's new updatable NFC stack, we'll see more updates from Google that bring such new features.
In fact, with the release of Android 15 Beta 1 today, Google has quietly enabled Android's new updatable NFC stack on Pixel phones. However, it seems that something went wrong during the migration process that caused NFC to completely fail in Pixel users running the first beta. Hopefully, Google will soon roll out an update to fix the NFC issue in Android 15 beta. Because NFC is essential for the default wallet app to function.
NFC in Android 15 Beta 1 is no longer working.