Friday, March 29, 2024

Should you install Android O developer preview on your Pixel or Nexus?

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Android O is now available to download as a developer preview. But that doesn’t mean you should do it.

The day that Google releases a new version of Android is one of the most exciting of the year, especially for early adopters like us who want to play with all the new features and see what’s in store for the final release.

But unlike last year, when Google released its Android N preview alongside an easy-to-install beta program, the company is going decidedly old school with this one, reverting back to the tried-and-true method of factory images that require an unlocked bootloader and some knowledge of terminal commands. This isn’t a surprise — Google has been doing this for both developer previews and final releases for years — but delaying an easy-for-consumers-to-install Android O version until later in the year speaks to the early nature of Android O right now. In other words…

You shouldn’t install the Android O developer preview on any phone you need to use on a daily basis.

Things are going to be broken

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We say this every year, but things are definitely going to be broken with the Android O developer preview. There are going to be lots and lots of bugs, and core features of the phone, from making calls to connecting to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices, may be incomplete or completely not working.

Moreover, many of Google’s own apps will not have been updated to take advantage of the new system APIs — things like Font Resources, Adaptive Icons, and Picture-in-Picture — potentially limiting its usefulness.

Third-party apps are not going to be compatible

Google doesn’t usually allow developers to release public versions of their apps with support for the latest Android APIs until a few weeks before the final public release. In this case, that means we’ll likely have to wait until late August or even into September — months after Google I/O — for anything resembling an interesting set of user interactions.

In the meantime, the Android O dev preview will likely have been updated at least three times with new versions that fix bugs and overcome some of the more core functionality issues we’re seeing in the initial release. For something like Picture-in-Picture, for instance, you’re not going to see a working version of YouTube — probably the most important app to support the feature — until close to the final release.

It’s a pain in the butt to install

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Finally, it’s not easy to install the Android O developer preview, especially if you’re not familiar with the commands that require you to unlock your bootloader and flash a system image.

Worse, even if you get there, you will have to factory reset your phone at some point in the process — when you unlock your bootloader in the first place, or when you flash your phone back to Nougat.

But we’re not going to stop you

Obviously, if you want to install Android O on your phone or tablet, we can’t stop you. So if you’re going to do it, at least read up on the procedure, and know what you’re getting yourself into.

How to get Android O on your Pixel or Nexus

There’s lots more to come

Google promises that it will talk lots more about Android O at Google I/O in May, and that there will eventually be an easy-to-install beta, just like there was with the Android N beta in 2016. This is good news — the updates will likely come fast and furious — and we’d recommend waiting until then to install Android O on any phone or tablet you actually want to use on a daily basis.

Android O

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  • Everything new in Android O
  • Should you put Android O on your phone?
  • How to install the Android O Developer Preview
  • Android O isn’t in the Android Beta Program yet
  • Join the Discussion

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