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Google recently announced it was moving up the release timeline for Android 16 to the first half of 2025. With the accelerated schedule, that means it’s already developer preview season. Yes, you can download the next version of Android right now, provided you don’t mind dealing with bugs and missing features. Even if you don’t want to tinker with this first release, it gets us closer to the versions you will want to use.
Android developer previews often focus on low-level changes to system architecture and APIs, leaving the feature and UI changes for later releases. So, the first build of Android 16 won’t change the way you use your phone. Google says there’s a new embedded photo picker, giving apps a more private way to access your data. Android 16 also includes an expanded version of the Health Connect APIs for sharing health records.
This release and the ones that follow will also have myriad new APIs for developers to adopt. These tools will change with each build until early next year when the APIs are finalized. That’s also when we’ll begin to see the user-facing feature changes for Android 16.
If you want to try the developer preview, you’ll need a recent Google Pixel device. The installation process is also a bit involved. The preview is only available as a full system image, which you must download and flash to your device using the Android dev tools. This will delete everything currently on the phone. Google has system images available for the Pixel devices going back to the Pixel 6—so you get Android 16 on any Tensor-powered Pixel, even the foldables and the Pixel Tablet.
The developer preview will eventually lead to a beta program, which is when Android enthusiasts should think about giving it a look. This version will be available as an OTA update with an upgrade path to the final version. Leaving the developer preview will require a full device reset.
Google is targeting the first beta release in January. If you’re running a different test build (like the QPR2 Beta) and want to get on the Android 16 train, you’ll want to return to a stable build before the new year. There will be several beta releases through early 2025, culminating in the final release in May or June.
Credit: Google
This is just the first step in Google’s Android schedule realignment. Moving the main release earlier in the year means more new phones in 2025 will ship with the latest version of the platform. A second Android release will come later in 2025, making some more minor changes to features and APIs.