Android 16 Developer Preview 2 Released for Pixel Devices

It’s still hard to grasp this new world we are in now, with Google back to releasing multiple versions of Android in a single year, or at least letting us test them. But that’s the story to end 2024. We have already put Android 16 on some Pixel devices in a first developer preview and talked about the new features we discovered. To end the year, Google is releasing another one, this time as Android 16 Developer Preview 2. Again, it’s December and we are already deep into testing Android 16.

For Android 16 DP2, Google says that the focus should be on the changes they’ve made that were “designed to enhance the app experience, improve battery life, and boost performance while minimizing incompatibilities.” To make those enhancements, it sure sounds like Google is making a lot of backend tweaks to Android, most of which are developer-targeted. Things like triggered profiling and job execution optimizations are a part of this DP2 release. You can read more about those changes at the link below from the Android Developers Blog.

When it comes to things you might notice as an Android 16 user, Google says that this DP2 and Android 16 will bring new controls over device haptics with haptic APIs, search within cloud media providers through the photo picker, a new activity intensity data type in Health Connect (that tracks how intense your activities are, obviously), and that’s mostly it. This is just a new developer preview, so the focus right now isn’t on any major platform changes that you might see in daily use. However, Google often makes changes we find that aren’t listed in their blog posts.

How to install Android 16 Developer Preview 2: If you were already on Android 16 DP1, you will receive DP2 as an over-the-air update shortly. For those who didn’t take on that first preview, you can join the party by flashing factory images to your Pixel device. Since this is still a developer preview, Google is not recommending that you do that just yet – this is really just for developers to start getting their apps ready.

Here is the build info for this DP2 release:

Release date: December 18, 2024
Build: BP21.241121.009
Emulator support: x86 (64-bit), ARM (v8-A)
Security patch level: December 2024
Google Play services: 24.46.30

Android 16 Developer Preview 2 downloads: You can find factory images to flash this first build here. The OTA images for Android 16 can be found here.

Looking for Android 16 Beta? Google is still planning to release Android 16 Beta in January of 2025, so you could see it within the next few weeks. At that time, you’ll be able to enroll through the Android Beta Program site.

If we find anything new, we’ll let you know!

// Android Developers Blog