Private Spaces in Android 15 can use another Google Account

Google appears to be thoroughly considering the privacy implications of Android’s upcoming “Private Spaces” feature, and the company plans to suggest users create a separate Google account.

About APK Insights: In this “APK Insight” post, we have decompiled the latest version of the application that Google has uploaded to the Play Store. When you decompile these files (called APKs for Android apps), you can see various lines of code that hint at future features. Please note that Google may or may not provide these features, and our interpretation of them may be incomplete. However, for those that are close to completion, we will try to show you what they will look like if they actually ship. Please keep that in mind as you read on.

As we reported last year, Private Spaces is set up as a way to prevent selected Android apps (and their notifications) from appearing on your device unless you explicitly unlock them. You can think of this as a way to separate one part of your digital life from the rest, making it somewhat safe to temporarily hand your unlocked phone over to someone else.

Given the scale of Private Space, we don’t expect it to be rolled out until this fall’s Android 15 update at the earliest, but that doesn’t stop clues from popping up in both the Android 15 Developer Preview and the beta release of Android 14 QPR3 . His latest QPR3 beta, released on Monday, provided the latest hints about what Google is planning for Private Space.

A new document revealed by the APK Insight team shows that Google recommends creating a second Google account specifically for the Private Space app.

Create a Google Account to protect your data privacy

The next screen allows you to sign in to your account for use in your private space.

Create a dedicated account to prevent data from appearing outside of your private areas, such as:

• Synced photos, files, emails, contacts, calendar events, and other data
• App download history and recommendations
• Browsing history, bookmarks, and saved passwords
• Recommended content related to your activity in the Private Spaces app

Let’s consider each potential way data from your private space can be leaked to other apps.

First, by using a secondary Google Account in your private space, you can also sign up for each app using the same secondary email address. This will likely prevent you from seeing emails from these apps unless you unlock your private space.

Similarly, it appears that you can keep separate instances of Google Contacts, Calendar, and Photos. For now, each of these apps lets you quickly switch between all your logged-in Google accounts, but perhaps dedicated Private Spaces support will soon be coming to each app, and you won’t be able to access any extra Google accounts unless they’re unlocked. Your account will be hidden. Alternatively, you may be able to keep separate copies of those apps.

Second, the Google Play Store keeps a record of all the apps you’ve ever installed on your Android device, but you can retroactively delete unwanted entries. A dedicated private space account keeps sensitive apps hidden from your app history and family library.

Third, you don’t want to leave any trace of sensitive websites you might visit. Incognito mode allows you to leave (almost) no trace of your activity, but it comes at the cost of the convenience of Chrome’s bookmarks and saved passwords. With an alternative Google Account, you can take advantage of all these features without revealing your browsing habits.

Fourth, whenever you browse the web or use Google search while signed in to your account, that information is used to make recommendations for the company. For example, if you search for a guide related to a particular game, articles and videos about that game may appear on Google Discover or the YouTube homepage. Viewing from a different account will not affect the main recommendations.

Notably, that fourth point raises its own unique privacy concerns. Incognito Browsing keeps your data (mostly) separate from your Google Account, but a dedicated private space account allows the company to more easily track your different browsing and app usage habits. I’ll be interested to see how Google communicates the details of these private space features. Presumably, backup accounts will have their own privacy protections that aren’t enabled by default on standard Google Accounts.

All in all, this looks like a well-thought-out effort on Google’s part to introduce an additional level of privacy to users of Android’s upcoming Private Spaces feature. You may still have to offer a little trust, but the increased convenience combined with complete separation of accounts may make the whole idea worthwhile for some people.

What do you think? Would you like to create a new Google Account specifically for hidden apps in your Android private space? Let us know in the comments below.

Some APK Insight decompositions benefit from the JEB Decompiler.