Android 16 release schedule set, Beta starts in January

With the release of Android 16 DP1, Google shared the schedule for the Developer Preview and upcoming Beta.

There are two developer previews, with the only other DP coming in December:

• Developer Preview 1 (November): Early baseline build focused on developer feedback, with some new features, APIs, and behavior changes.
• Developer Preview 2 (December): Incremental update with additional features, APIs, and behavior changes.

The Android 16 Beta will start in January. Platform Stability with “final SDK/NDK APIs and also final internal APIs and app-facing system behaviors” is coming with Beta 3 in March. Afterwards, “you’ll have several months before the official release to do your final testing.”

Beta 4 should be the final release before the public launch. That’s notably a month before Google I/O’s usual timeframe. It’s unclear how Google will announce consumer-facing features this cycle.

• Beta 1 (January): Initial beta-quality release, over-the-air update to early adopters who enroll in Android Beta.
• Beta 2 (February): Incremental Beta-quality release.
• Beta 3 (March): First Platform Stability milestone including final APIs and behaviors. Play publishing also opens.
• Beta 4 (April): Near-final builds for final testing.
• Final release: Android 16 release to AOSP and ecosystem.

More details on the Android 16 release timeline for developers is available here.