Google is in an fascinating place. It is the developer of Android, but it surely’s additionally the {hardware} producer of a rising Android telephone model. In years previous, being the developer of Android has given it an edge in making {hardware} and software program for Google Pixel telephones.
Nonetheless, with Android 16, Google is shaking issues up. The corporate is totally altering the Android growth and launch schedule in a approach that’ll profit Google’s accomplice OEMs — and by extension, Pixel opponents.
Google is such a big tech conglomerate that it naturally has a couple of competing pursuits. Nonetheless, with the discharge of Android 16 Developer Preview 1 this week, the corporate has rightfully and decisively put the Android platform above the Pixel model. To compete with the iPhone, Google wants all of its Android accomplice OEMs at their greatest, delivery thorough and well timed model updates annually.
That is one thing that even the very best Android telephone producers have struggled with of late. Samsung can not seem to ship its Android 15-based One UI 7 replace shortly, because it was delayed till subsequent yr. Smaller manufacturers have horrible reputations for delivering quick and dependable Android updates, like Motorola, which introduced Android 14 to the Motorola Razr Plus 2023 a full yr after it was launched.
OnePlus is among the few corporations with a presence in North America, not named Google, that managed to roll out Android 15 to the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus Pad 2 in a well timed method.
Google seems to have acknowledged this subject with Android, and it is actively correcting it. Android 16 is about for launch within the second quarter of 2025, and it will attain platform stability in March. That is months forward of schedule, and the additional time will give accomplice OEMs — like Samsung, OnePlus, Motorola, and others — the time they should ship Android model updates alongside the discharge of their greatest telephones.
What’s altering concerning the Android yearly launch schedule
The primary developer preview for Android 16 is right here early, and that is not by chance. Google says that the transfer is “the beginning of Android having extra frequent API releases as a part of our effort to drive quicker innovation in apps and gadgets” in a weblog publish asserting the launch. What precisely does that seem like? For one, there’ll now be two SDK releases annually, with the most important one arriving in Q2 2025.
The most important SDK launch would be the Android model replace we’re used to, which is Android 16 in 2025. Nonetheless, as a substitute of reaching a ultimate launch within the third quarter, it’s going to come a complete quarter early. That is the replace that’ll embrace important Android habits adjustments, APIs, and new options.
Google says it is pushing the discharge up 1 / 4 “to higher align with the schedule of system launches throughout our ecosystem, so extra gadgets can get the most important launch of Android sooner.”
There’s extra — the corporate will now subject a second SDK launch within the ultimate quarter of 2025. This will likely be a “minor” SDK launch, based on Google, that is greater an a quarterly function drop however smaller than an annual model replace. The minor SDK launch in This autumn 2025 will include new APIs and options however will not carry habits adjustments.
That is supposed to “guarantee steady high quality” for the Android platform whereas not including an additional burden for builders. That ultimate SDK launch may have function updates, optimizations, bug fixes, and new developer APIs however will not embrace the behavioral adjustments that would trigger compatibility points for apps. “The Q2 main launch [Android 16] would be the solely launch in 2025 to incorporate deliberate habits adjustments that would have an effect on apps,” Google emphasizes.
There are nonetheless quarterly Android updates, too. They’re going to now are available Q1 and Q3, splitting up the most important and minor SDK releases with options solely. Put all of them collectively, and Google’s adjustments to Android releases prolong far past simply delivery Android 16 a couple of months earlier. These are strategic adjustments that’ll assist the platform general however will actually assist accomplice OEMs.
The shifted schedule will make new Android telephones higher
Proper now, shopping for an Android telephone is hard, and the timing of software program releases is the rationale why. For instance, Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 in July, and the previous is the most costly telephone it sells. Nonetheless, it shipped with Android 14, it is nonetheless operating Android 14, and it will hold operating Android 14 till no less than the brand new yr, when Samsung is anticipated to launch One UI 7.
That is an issue. The perfect Android telephones must be operating the very best Android model, however that is not often the case. Even Google’s personal Pixel 9 collection launched and not using a new model Android for the primary time ever.
Hopefully, it can quickly be an issue of the previous. By releasing developer previews, beta releases, and ultimate variations of Android updates sooner, accomplice OEMs will get loads of time to tune up their Android skins earlier than system releases. “We’re actively working with our system companions to carry the Q2 launch [Android 16] to as many gadgets as potential,” Google says.
May that imply extra gadgets, not simply Pixel, launch with contemporary Android updates? Or, may it imply that Android releases grow to be much less about being synced up with {hardware} releases and extra about getting put in on as many gadgets as potential?
These are questions we’re nonetheless ready for solutions to. Nonetheless, it is onerous to not get enthusiastic about the way forward for Android. Google’s bulletins this week reaffirm a couple of key issues. It is dedicated to working with accomplice OEMs to assist them replace their telephones to the newest Android model as quickly as potential. It is also going to maintain the circulation of Android updates steady with safety drops, quarterly updates, and a second main SDK launch.
I am hoping that Android’s leaders — Samsung, Google, and others — use these adjustments to ship constant, high-quality, and fast Android model releases, dispelling the notion that the platform is not as dependable as Apple’s.
