For the final decade or so, Google has launched main Android updates within the fall after an prolonged developer and beta preview course of, however for 2025, that’s altering. Now, Google is planning its main launch, which we anticipate will likely be Android 16, for Q2 as an alternative of Q3, confirming a current report from Android Authority.
The announcement says this will “higher align with the schedule of gadget launches throughout our ecosystem, so extra units can get the main launch of Android sooner.” Different adjustments Google is speaking about immediately embody enhancements to the Play Retailer, the place customers can share preferences for higher suggestions on new apps the best way they already might for video games, and in improvement, the place Google is including extra Gemini AI options to “write, refactor, and doc” code in Android apps.
The brand new replace schedule addresses an issue with Android’s ecosystem we’ve been discussing since at least 2016, with third-party telephones ready months or longer to get the most recent updates. Positive, Google Pixel telephones have been first up for the most recent releases, however what about everybody else? A brand new schedule might make it simpler for extra producers to launch new units with the most recent capabilities accessible on day one as an alternative of ready for future updates so as to add issues like Circle to Search.
Within the new sample, Google is telling builders that there will likely be a serious launch in Q2, together with a minor SDK launch in This fall that’s extra like the present quarterly releases that add new options with out altering the underlying techniques as a lot. It can imply shifting compatibility testing ahead, however the different profit is that apps might have causes to assist new options — iPhone Live Activities-like ongoing notifications, for instance — as a result of extra units will have the ability to use them immediately.
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