Google has announced Android 15, the next major evolution for its mobile operating system. As usual, the development and release cycle will follow a three-phase strategy. February 16, 2024, marks the start of the first phase, which squarely targets developers and phone makers, providing them a look at the changes so that they can get familiar with the new software.
The first build of Android 15 is marked as Developer Preview 1, and it is going to be followed by a Beta release. This is the release that can be downloaded over the air without any special tactics. Once the beta testing phase is done, the final stable version is released. This usually happens toward the end of the year.
All the phones that can download Android 15
Just like the previous versions released over the past few years, the first Developer Preview of Android 15 is also limited to Google’s Pixel smartphones. Following is the complete list of phones compatible with Android 15:
- Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro
- Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro
- Pixel 7a
- Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro
- Pixel 6a
- Pixel Fold
- Pixel Tablet
Android 15 will come to more phones from other manufacturers over time, but at least during the Developer Preview stage, only the above Pixels can join the Android 15 fun.
Android 15 Developer Preview release date
As of Friday, February 16, the first Developer Preview of Android 15 is available to download via the official Android resource page. Developers can now flash the Android 15 system image on a compatible smartphone.
For those without a compatible device in their hands, they can still experience Android 15 and build their apps atop the update code based on the official Android emulator that is bundled as part of the Android studio kit.
Google will release two Developer Preview versions of Android 15 in total, with the second one scheduled to arrive in March.
Android 15 Beta release date
Android 15 will continue to be tested among the developer community for the next few weeks. According to the official road map provided by Google, the first beta build of Android 15 will be released in April.
As mentioned above, beta testing is a public process and doesn’t require any special invites or privileges. All you need to do is enroll your device for the public beta testing batch. But most importantly, it is a lot less buggy compared to the development builds, and this is the only one we recommend an average enthusiast to even think of experimenting with.
A total of four beta updates will be released over the course of the next few months. The fourth one, which Google says means that it is “near-final” in terms of public readiness, is scheduled for the July-August window.
Android 15 final release date
The beta testing phase of a next-generation Android iteration lasts the longest and involves multiple beta update releases. In the case of Android 15, the beta builds will first drop in April, with plans to reach platform stability around June.
Now, Google hasn’t said when exactly Android 15 will be released for the masses as a stable update, but it will most likely happen toward the end of 2024’s third quarter. Android 14, for example, was released in October last year, while Android 13 made it out in the month of August.
As far as Android 15 goes, the best bet would be somewhere between September and October. However, depending on how deep the changelog is — and the magnitude of software optimization required — the release window could very well shift on either end of the estimated slot.
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