Google has officially released Android 16 Developer Preview 1 (DP1), marking the beginning of the development cycle of the next Android version. This comes just a few weeks after the surprise announcement of accelerating the Android 16 launch schedule to Q2 2025, instead of the usual Q3.
The DP1 release is primarily aimed at developers, encouraging them to start testing and optimizing their apps on the new Android platform. This ensures application compatibility and stability before the final version reaches end users. Therefore, general users should not install DP1 on primary devices as it may contain bugs and incomplete features.
Google phone models are eligible to install with Android 16
- Pixel 6 and 6 Pro
- Pixel 6a
- Pixel 7 and 7 Pro
- Pixel 7a
- Pixel Fold
- Pixel Tablet
- Pixel 8 and 8 Pro
- Pixel 8a
- Pixel 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, and 9 Pro Fold
Highlights in Android 16 DP1
Upgrade API for image picker: Gives developers the ability to customize the photo picker interface, providing a more seamless experience within the app while ensuring user privacy and security.
Health record support: Health Connect is updated to support reading and writing of Electronic Health Records (EHR) according to the FHIR standard, opening up the potential for integrating health data into applications. However, this feature is currently limited to the developer early access program.
Update Privacy Sandbox: The latest version of Privacy Sandbox is included, continuing Google’s efforts to improve user privacy and replace legacy tracking methods.
Android 16 development roadmap
Google plans to complete the Developer Preview phase by the end of 2024 and move to the public beta phase in January 2025. The stable version of Android 16 could launch as early as May 2025, but it will most likely fall in June or July.
With the Google Pixel 9 series launching earlier than expected this year, it is likely that the Pixel 10 series will be the first devices to come with Android 16 pre-installed.
Google has also confirmed there will be a minor Android SDK update in Q4 2025, focused on adding features and fixing bugs without causing significant compatibility changes. It is unclear whether this update will be called Android 16.1 or another name.
The post Android 16 has just been released early by Google first appeared on Vo Vo Studio – VVS – Hot technology news, in-depth product reviews.
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