Android 16 First Developer Preview Now Available; Two Android API Releases Next Year in Q2 and Q4 2025

Google has now made the first developer preview of the next Android 16 operating system available, earlier than before. Along with two Android API releases next year, two features-only incremental updates will also be provided.

Read more about Google’s recent Android 16 updates below.

Android 16 First Developer Preview Now Available to Users

As mentioned, Google, the California-based tech giant, has made its Android 16 first developer preview available to users and they can now start to test their applications on the Android 16 operating system. Unlike before, the brand has released the first developer preview a little earlier, and plans to have two API releases next year in 2025.

Firstly, speaking about the Android 16 first developer preview and the features associated or provided with it, the embedded photo picker allows it to be a much more integrated part of the application, and be listed in the view hierarchy. The app no longer would be needing broad permissions, but still be able to access the required media files. The Health Connect developer preview comes with an early support to health records, enabling the app to read and write health reports in FHIR format. The latest version of Privacy Sandbox is also included, assuring users better privacy.

Now coming to the API releases the brand plans for next year, in Q2 2025 itself, the major SDK release will take place, followed by a minor SDK release in Q4 2025. In Q1 and Q3 respectively, two feature-only updates will also be provided. So, in the months of November and December of 2024, developer previews will be made available, and beta updates will start to roll out next year from January to April 2025. Platform stability will be achieved in the month of March 2025, and the final official stable version release will take place in Q2 2025.

It has been pointed out that the major release and all the associated processes will happen a quarter earlier this time, and as per noted by Google, this is to better align with their device launches, allowing many of them to get the Android 16 operating system sooner. The brand has also asked its users to share with them their valuable feedback, so that more can be included in the final release.