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Last year with the introduction of the Android N Developer Preview, Google also launched the Android Beta Program, a painfully easy way for regular folk (those that didn’t mind extremely early/buggy software) to test and try out the latest software version without having to fiddle around with factory images. Because the Android Beta Program delivered the update over-the-air, all you had to do was enroll on their site and wait for notification to appear on your device. It didn’t get much easier than that.
This year Google is taking things a little slower with Android O. Although the Android O Developer Preview is officially hitting the streets today, it’s mostly meant for developers to get a head start on getting their apps up to speed and provide feedback before the final version of Android O debuts later this year (Q3). The Developer Preview is only available via factory images and you’ll need to flash them the old fashioned way in order to get the early alpha software up and running on your Nexus or Pixel device. It’s really not meant for use on a primary Android device as, again, the software is still in an extremely early state.
So early in fact, there’s still a good few months before Android O will be available in public beta. For those wondering when the Android O Beta will be released, Google has provided a timeline on their site, showing an ETA somewhere between May and June. That’s when Developer Preview 2 will drop and it seems the beta will be available as well, providing there aren’t any delays like we saw last year with Android N.
- Preview 1 (initial release, alpha)
- Preview 2 (incremental update, beta)
- Preview 3 (final APIs and official SDK, Play publishing)
- Preview 4 (near-final system images for final testing)
- Final release to AOSP and ecosystem
Installing the Android O Beta
Once the update is available via the Android Beta Program, all you’ll have to do is:
- Visit g.co/androidbeta
- Choose Pixel/Nexus devices you’d like to enroll in the beta
- Check your device for “System Update” notification
- Download the update (use WiFi to speed things up)
- Install the update
- Wait for Pixel/Nexus to reboot
- Enjoy Android O!
Un-enrolling is just easy, but your device will be reset to a factory state, meaning you’ll have to start over fresh like the first day you took it out of the box. For more on Android O, you can see everything that’s new in our post right here.
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