Promising a final release of the system soon, Google today released Android O Developer Preview 4.

“As we put the finishing touches on the Android O platform, today we’re rolling out Developer Preview 4 to help you make sure your apps are ready,” Google VP of Engineering Dave Burke writes. “This is the final preview before we launch the official Android O platform to consumers later this summer.”

Google released the initial Android O Developer Preview back in March, and I’ve been using it ever since on my Pixel XL. Developer Preview 2 followed in May, and then Developer Preview 3 in June.

Google describes this preview as a release candidate, meaning that there is a small possibility that this is, in fact, the final release of Android O. It includes the final system behaviors, Google says, the latest bug fixes and optimizations, and the final APIs (API level 26).

But, as always, the goal for this release is that developers can test their apps on the very latest Android platform and its new features, such as notification channels and dots, shortcut pinning, picture-in-picture, autofill, and more.

As with previous releases, Android O Developer Preview 4 is available only on a limited selection o Google devices, including the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, and the Android Emulator. If you’ve been using a previous preview, you will get it over the air automatically. Otherwise, you can manually install this release from the Android Developer website.

Almost done!

Tagged with Android O