The first Developer Preview of Android 14 has arrived, kicking off a months-long testing phase where we’ll get to see much of what’s new in Android ahead of the stable release later this year.
Google released several details about Developer Preview 1 (DP1) as well as a timeline for the preview and beta period ahead on the Android Developers website. Plus, several publications have already started sharing new features and other details about Android 14 based on what they’ve found in DP1.
When will Android 14 release?
The short answer is in August or September 2023, but if you want more detail, read on.
Google published a timeline overview for Android 14 that gives us a pretty good idea how many previews and betas we’ll get, as well as when we’ll get them. DP1 and DP2 will come out in February and March, respectively, and then in April we should get the first Android 14 Beta, with further releases coming roughly every month.
Timeline for Android 14 developer previews and betas.
Google expects to hit platform stability in June with Beta 3 — this is when the search giant will lock in the Android 14 APIs and developers can start building apps knowing there won’t be any further changes. Android 14’s final release will come sometime after July — likely August, as in past years.
How to get Android 14 DP1
Getting a developer preview isn’t the easiest thing for most people, so if you’re not a technical user, I’d recommend waiting until the beta releases start coming out. Not only will those be more stable than developer previews, but you can easily enroll your Pixel phone through Google’s Android Beta Program website without wiping your data or flashing anything.
As for the developer previews, you’ll need to head to the Android Developers website and download the compatible Android 14 DP factory image for your Pixel phone. The following Pixel phones are supported:
- Pixel 7 Pro
- Pixel 7
- Pixel 6a
- Pixel 6 Pro
- Pixel 6
- Pixel 5a 5G (didn’t release in Canada)
- Pixel 5
- Pixel 4a 5G
You can find the Android 14 DP1 factory images here — you’ll need to download them and flash them, which will wipe your data (that said, you shouldn’t install the developer preview on your daily driver device in the first place). Once flashed, you’ll get future Android 14 updates delivered over the air.
We won’t get into the detailed step-by-step instructions on this process, but there are plenty of excellent guides online — such as this one from Android Police.
What’s new in Android 14 DP1?
Below is a non-exhaustive list of what’s new in Android 14 DP1. We’ll update this as new features and changes are discovered.
- Optimizations for devices with large screens.
- Improvements to standby battery life through changes to how Android communicates app changes.
- Increased text zoom up to a maximum of 200 percent (previously, 130 percent was the max).
- Android 14 will block installation of apps targetting older versions of Android — learn more.
- Battery usage page improvements.
- New tool for removing carrier and device manufacturer bloatware — learn more.
- Support for the DualSense Edge controller — learn more.
Source: Google Via: Android Police
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