Google Releases Android Beta Program for Developers Alongside Android N

The recent announcement or rather the release of Android N Developer Preview from Google's end has indeed surprised everyone. It has been always been known to one and all that Google has something new to tell at its annually held Google I/O Developers Conference, but this time, it has announced an early release in order to obtain more developer feedback and to incorporate the same in the final release of Android N operating system. This year the I/O conference is scheduled to commence on May 22.

Recommended: Android N Developer Preview released

However, this is not the only news that is making rounds in the media for now. Another major update from the Mountain View-based company is that alongside the release of Android N, it has also announced Android Beta Program that is aimed to give users a test preview of the latest version of its mobile operating system and subsequently receive new builds as a part of Over-The-Air (OTA) update.

The real motive of Google behind the release of this Beta Program was to allow developers with an eligible device to quickly enroll themselves into the program and simultaneously test the latest previews that are released by the company specific to their handsets. Also, as a part of it, these users will be able to receive the latest preview of Android N as a system update. It is worth mentioning that Google's Android Beta Program resembles Microsoft's Windows Insider program closely, wherein interested users are provided with the latest build of Windows 10. These users aren't required to clean install the new build of Windows every time but they can try up the pre-releases before official release first hand. The program has been evidently very successful, with millions joining it in the first few months of its public availability.

List of devices attached to a Google account

The process of enrolling in the program is no less than a cakewalk. To get themselves enrolled users's just need to visit the official website: https://www.google.com/android/beta. Once done, the user just needs to click Enroll Device button just below the several devices that are associated with that Google account. Once the user clicks the button, he automatically receives a notification on its smartphone or tablet about the availability of Android N preview. As per reports, as of now the eligible devices to feature Android N are the Nexus 6, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, Nexus 5X and Pixel C.

Google in its statement stated "You may remain in the Android Beta Program beyond the N release to preview future Android N maintenance releases (MRs). If you choose to do so, you will automatically get an OTA update to pre-release versions of the MRs as they become available. At the end of the program, you will begin to receive regular public updates." However, the company also states that "if you manually flashed Android N on your device by downloading the image from developer.android.com you won't receive OTA updates automatically."

Users get instant notification for the preview version released

Prior to this, there was no beta program in place from Google. All interested users were supposed to download the image of the preview Android version from Google's developer website and then manually flash the image file on their respective smartphone or tablet. Though it wasn't a difficult task, but it still did gave headaches to the regular users and led to less reachability.

Reports also claim that the latest release is the alpha build for Android N. The next preview update featuring an incremental update is expected to roll out in April, followed by another similar update release in the month of May. To avoid rumors Google clarified that it will be releasing final APIs and official SDK of Android N in July, and at that time users can expect "near-final system images" for final testing, and in Q3 this year, the final version will roll out.

Video Courtesy: 9To5Google

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