The First Preview for Android 16 Is Available for Developers
Google is giving early testers a peek at next year’s Android 16, offering a limited preview of the upcoming OS update. This is all part of the company’s plan to deliver Android updates to users faster.
This is the first Android 16 developer preview, three months ahead of a similar release last year Android 15 first preview. The early start means the final version of Android 16 is expected to be released in the second quarter of 2025, a window that would be earlier than the operating system’s typical full release in the third quarter. (Android 15 Launched in late October.)
Matthew McCullough, vice president of product management for Android Developers, said: “We plan to release major releases a quarter earlier (Q2 instead of Q3 in previous years) to better align with device release schedules across our ecosystem.” wrote in a blog post Announcing a developer preview.
Google has launched its Pixel 9 series This August instead of October. So when these phones hit the market, Android 15 was noticeably absent. If Google plans to release the next Pixel series in the same time frame of 2025, it should overlap with the early release of Android 16.
Read more: Android 16 will be released earlier than usual. Google Android VP explains why
This Android 16 developer preview has new features in its software build: the ability to more selectively access photos for apps, and the ability for earlier versions of apps to read and write medical records with user consent. Since this preview is aimed more at app developers than app users, it gives developers time to patch and integrate new features into their own apps before the final Android 16 release.
This preview resets the Android pre-release schedule to minor software updates in the last quarter of 2024, followed by feature releases in the first quarter of 2025, and finally a full release in the second quarter. More specifically, this could be broken down into a first developer preview in November, then a second preview in December, and then monthly from January to April (or to May) for Android sign-ups. Users of the Beta program release a test version, followed by a final version. official Android 16 overview page.
Google didn’t give a final list of which phones will be compatible with Android 16, but did note that the Android 16 developer preview could work with the company’s Pixel 6 Series phones (including Pixel 6a) and newer equipment Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro folding screen. This benchmark for Pixel 6 phones has the same compatibility threshold as last year’s Android 15 developer beta.
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