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Google has officially confirmed that Android 16 will be launching earlier than usual, affirming information reported in September. This aligns with the earlier launches of Pixel 9 this year and Pixel 9a set to launch two months earlier next year. However, thanks to our sources, we now know the exact date when Android 16 will be pushed to AOSP (Android Open Source Project) as well as when the OTA (Over-The-Air) will start for Pixel devices.
Official Launch Date of Android 16
That date is June 3. Unlike Android 15, Android 16 will be made available to AOSP and start rolling out to Pixel devices on the same day. This is a full 2-3 months earlier than usual compared to Android 15, which did not start rolling out until October 15 this year.
Priority and Purpose
The primary reason for this earlier launch, as announced by Google last week, is to make Android 16 available on new partner devices for the fall launches. Launching in June allows devices releasing in July, August, and September to theoretically ship with Android 16. It also permits Google to issue a second, smaller update later in the year. The reasoning behind the switch to point updates is largely for AI (artificial intelligence). Google aims to push changes faster so that developers and OEMs can quickly take advantage of new AI features.
Previous Android Versions and New Trends
A trend we’ve been observing from Google recently is moving up their release dates, which makes sense, particularly for their phones. Launching the Pixel in October always coincided too closely with holiday sales and just before the new crop of processors hit the market. Now, with its launch in August, it can beat the iPhone to market, which could be one reason behind the significant bump in sales for the Pixel 9 this year—aside from the fact that it is an excellent phone.
Shifting the launch of Android 16 to June means that the Pixel 10 will not launch at the same time as Android 16, which could lead to encountering fewer bugs at launch. Typically, the new version of Android is announced alongside its flagship Pixel phones, often leading to buggy devices. However, this was not the case this year with Android 15 and Pixel 9, resulting in much more stable devices. It will be interesting to see how the next year unfolds.
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