Android 15 is better at syncing your Google account profile pictures on Pixel

Ben Schoon | May 20 2024 - 7:03 am PT

In the latest Android 15 beta update, Google has debuted improved support for syncing and using the profile picture from your Google account.

Your Google account profile picture is used throughout the company’s various online services, and it also shows up in Android. For a while now, Android has been able to use your Google account profile picture in some locations such as when setting up multiple users on the device.

But, in Android 15, that support has been improved.

With its latest beta updates – the changes went live in Beta 1, we can confirm, not Beta 2 – Google has made it possible to sync the profile picture of any Google account signed in on your device. So you’re able to pick from multiple profile pictures with ease, but it goes beyond that.

The new avatar picker page in Android 15 Beta 1 distinctly says that your Google account profile picture will change automatically in Android too if you change it elsewhere.

If you change your Google Account picture, it will be updated here automatically.

In the past, changing your profile picture on a different device could lead to your Android device not showing the updated picture. Now, the syncing process should be faster and more reliable.

This change may only apply to Pixel devices, though. It’s also noted that the new avatar picker is called the “Google Pixel Avatar App,” meaning it’s likely only for Google’s experience. But, apparently, this new app can only provide the profile picture synced from your account or whichever one you pick to the Settings and SystemUI apps on your device, meaning it won’t integrate with third-party apps, Android Authority notes.