Rumor: Google is working on Android 15 feature that shows storage chip status

Google may be working on a feature that could display the lifespan of the UFS storage chip in Android phones. This is evident from a commit in the repository of the Android Open Source Project.

A commit in the code of AOSP shows that an API is being added that can measure the lifespan of the storage chip of an Android phone , as Android Authority discovered. The remaining lifespan can be displayed as a percentage via a page in the settings. According to Android Authority, the API has already been added to the latest beta version of Android 15.

Not every Android phone will probably support this feature, as Google does not require smartphone manufacturers to share information about the UFS chip with the operating system. According to Android Authority, the accuracy of the lifespan percentages also depends on the phone. For example, Google Pixels could display lifespan to the nearest percent, while other devices would measure lifespan in 10 percent increments.

Storage chips decay over time, which can cause data in internal storage to become damaged or the storage becomes completely unreadable. So this feature allows users to keep an eye on that decay. It previously emerged that Google is working on a similar page for checking battery status, although it would only be added to new Google Pixel phones. It's not clear if the storage chip status page will also be exclusive to Pixels.