The first developer preview of Android 16 is here!

Typically speaking, Google releases the first developer preview of a major Android update towards the start of the year. This was true for the past several versions of Android. But for Android 16, it looks like Google is kicking things off earlier with the release of the first developer preview today.

The company has announced that the first developer preview of Android 16 is here and developers who are interested can check it out. This is a huge shift in the timeline from past releases. However, we can’t say we’re too surprised. There have been previous reports that suggest that Google could move up the release of Android 16.

This is to give Android OEMs more time to prepare the update for their devices so that it won’t roll into the next year when they finally get it out to their customers. According to Google, they expect that the final release of Android 16 should take place roughly after April 2025 in Q2 2025.

Take note that things can always change between now and then. Depending on how stable the release is, Google could always push things back. Also, what we see now in the developer preview could also be subject to change. That being said, it should still give us a pretty good idea of some of the changes the company plans to bring to the table.