The most exciting thing about a major Android update is being able to follow a pattern to get a taste of all the new features. Google’s Android 12 update was the biggest visual overhaul of the operating system since Android 5 Lollipop, thanks to Material You. The new design philosophy, along with an exhaustive list of new features, made Android 12 look and feel radically different than previous iterations. Then came Android 13, doubling down on many of the same aesthetic choices. Now we’re moving to Android 14, and it’s likely that there will be even more changes under the hood.
The first Android 14 beta isn’t here yet, but we already have some clues as to what’s to come in the future. Each new version will add new features and minor improvements to various elements of the Android system. The first developer previews for all supported Pixel devices and some other non-Pixel phones are expected in the coming months. If you want everything you need to know about Android 14 in one place, then you’ve come to the right page.
What is Android 14 called?
Google abandoned its naming scheme for Desserts for Android two years ago with Android 10’s branding redesign. However, the use of dessert names continued for the company’s internal development teams. For example, Android 11 was called Red Velvet, while Android 12 is known as Snow Cone. Similarly, Android 13 is called Tiramisu. Google is no longer keeping Android 14 a secret since it was found in one of the AOSP Gerrit commits in July of last year.
For those of you who are curious, these were the dessert names (internal or public) of all Android versions so far:
- Android 1.5: Cake
- Android 1.6: Donut
- Android 2.0: Eclair
- Android 2.2: Froyo
- Android 2.3: Gingerbread
- Android 3.0: Honeycomb
- Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich
- Android 4.1: Jelly Beans
- Android 4.4: KitKat
- Android 5.0: Lollipop
- Android 6.0: Marshmallow
- Android 7.0: Nougat
- Android 8.0: Oreo
- Android 9: Cake
- Android 10: Quince Cake
- Android 11: Red Velvet Cake
- Android 12: Snow Cone
- Android 13: Tiramisu
- Android 14: Upside Down Cake
There’s no known release date for Android 14 just yet, but we suspect it will follow the same release rhythm as previous years. Android 13 was released in its developer preview form in February 2022, followed by another developer preview, then four more betas until the final release of Android 13. We can then expect the first Android 14 developer preview to appear around the same time.
For developers, expect Android 14 to hit “platform stability” sometime around the third beta, if Google follows the same release schedule as last year. Platform stability refers to the completion of APIs and last year coincided with the ability for developers to submit apps targeting the new API layer in the Google Play Store.
Will my device get Android 14?
If you own a recent Google Pixel smartphone like the new Pixel 7 series, you can be sure that you will be one of the first to get a taste of Android 14 when it drops. It’ll still only be in developer preview form (and so probably shouldn’t be installed on your daily driver), but you can try it anyway. We expect other device manufacturers to join in the fun, too, although devices from vendors like OnePlus and Xiaomi tend to not update as regularly. In other words: be careful.
However, if you Yes, really If you want to try Android 14 when it comes out on your smartphone and there is no official build, you can try a Generic System Image (GSI). We’ll update this section with more information when the first developer preview is released.
What’s new in Android 14 so far?
Although Android 14 isn’t here yet, we already know of two changes coming to the platform.
Say goodbye to Android Beam
After it’s deprecated in Android 10, Google will at last will remove Android Beam from AOSP according to a commit on the Android Gerrit. Android Beam could be used to connect two devices to start a data transfer easily. It’s already been replaced by Nearby Share, which essentially does the same thing, so it’s not a big deal.
The biggest problem, however, is that Nearby Share relies on Google Mobile Services (GMS), which means Google basically took a feature away from AOSP and hid it behind a proprietary service is not a part of AOSP. This means manufacturers that aren’t (or can be, such as Huawei) part of Google’s own licensing agreements for GMS are missing out on a feature.
Say hello via satellite
Android 14 will support satellite communications, according to Google’s senior vice president for Android Hiroshi Lockheimer. He said that Google is “designed for satellites” and that the company is excited to help partners “make all of this possible in the next version of Android.” With pressure from companies like Apple, which also recently rolled out satellite support for the iPhone 14 series, this appears to be the direction the industry is headed.
Android 14: Not much so far
Android 14 is still some way off, but we’ll likely hear more as we get closer to the first developer preview. We will hear about these changes either through the Android Gerrit or statements from Google and speakers. We’ll be sure to update this article as more information emerges, and we look forward to what the next version of the world’s largest operating system will bring to the table next.
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