New Delhi:
Google released the first developer preview of Android 16 today, marking a significant shift in its release schedule as the company aims to launch the operating system update nearly three months earlier than usual in 2025. The accelerated timeline is designed to help third-party Android phone manufacturers roll out updates more quickly when they launch new devices, according to Google’s Android Developer head Matthew McCullough. The Final version is expected to be available in Q2 2025, rather than the traditional Q3 release window.
Privacy and Health Data is the Focus of Android 16
The preview introduces several new developer APIs, including an embedded photo picker that lets users share specific media files without granting apps full access to their device storage. Google is also adding support for health records through a new Health Connect API, allowing apps to securely read and write medical data in FHIR format with user content, similar to Apple’s health features on IOS.
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The release includes the latest version of Privacy Sandbox, Google’s developing replacement for Android’s Advertising ID System, aimed at improving user privacy while maintaining advertising functionality.
Developers can now test Android 16 on Pixel devices from Pixel 6 series onwards, though they’ll need to perform a device wipe if they’re currently running Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1. The public beta program is scheduled to begin in January 2025. Google plans to maintain the annual major release cycle but will add a second minor SDK release in late 2025 for new APIs and features. The company has set a target for platform stability by March 2025, giving developers several months to update their apps before the public release.
A full release schedule shows six major updates planned before the final version launches, with the next developer preview coming in December 2024.
