Your Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Professional may reside to see Android 16

With an earlier Android 16 launch promised for 2025, Google is already on the trail by releasing the primary developer beta. Buried inside the launch is a few nice information for customers with older Pixel telephones.

The Android 16 Developer Preview 1 is out as we speak for knowledgeable tinkerers with suitable Pixel handsets. Unexpectedly, two of these suitable units are 2021’s Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Professional.

When Google launched these telephones, it promised working system assist for 3 years. That formally ends with the delayed Android 15 replace this 12 months.

Nonetheless, the compatibility with the new Android 16 beta is a reasonably stable signal the telephones will get a keep of execution and obtain full working system assist, for an additional model a minimum of.

After all, Google now guarantees seven full years of Android updates for its newest Pixel telephones. Nonetheless, it has taken some time to get to that time and it could be a welcome shock if the corporate began retroactively extending assist for fashions that arrived even earlier than the pledge was pushed to 5 years.

The arrival of the Android 16 developer preview as we speak doesn’t inform us a lot in regards to the new options Google has deliberate for 2025. Nonetheless, contemplating this model doesn’t often arrive till late winter/spring, it reveals the corporate is planning to make good on its promise to get the OS to customers a lot sooner subsequent 12 months.

Android 15 has been surprisingly late this 12 months, which has knock on results for homeowners of third party-made units from the likes of Samsung, in addition to Pixel customers.

Google has pledged to rectify that with subsequent 12 months’s mainline Android launch. In a weblog put up on October 31, Google stated: “We’re planning the foremost launch for Q2 fairly than Q3 to raised align with the schedule of system launches throughout our ecosystem, so extra units can get the foremost launch of Android sooner.”

Google added: “Subsequent 12 months, we’ll have a serious launch in Q2 and a minor launch in This autumn, each of which can embrace new developer APIs. The Q2 main launch would be the solely launch in 2025 to incorporate behaviour modifications that may have an effect on apps.

“The This autumn minor launch will choose up function updates, optimisations, and bug fixes because the main launch. It can additionally embrace new developer APIs, however won’t embrace any app-impacting behaviour modifications.”