Android Nougat Update Schedule & Release Date: When's It Coming To Your Android Phone?

Source: Know Your Mobile:

August 11, 2016 at 13:01

Android N is set for a release later on this year. But when can the average Android user expect to get it? Let’s have a look

Finally, at long last and after a period of consulting with public opinion, Google has announced the official name of Android N, it is called *drum roll*: ANDROID NOUGAT. Yes, the people have spoken and they wanted Android 7.0 to be named after the nutty confectionary, the stuff that, amongst other places, you find inside a Mars bar.

With the announcement of the name confirmed and talk already in circulation from major OEMs on forthcoming updates, it appears the final rollout is not terribly far off. Not to mention that after a long period of mysterious silence rumours and leaks are suddenly hotting up about the next crop of Nexus phones from HTC - the Sailfish and Marlin.

In all likelihood these two phones will be launched within the next couple of months around the same time that Android Nougat is officially pushed to existing Nexus products. As per usual, third parties like Samsung and LG will prep their software updates to follow in the run up to Christmas and New Year, and into 2017. Where the whole cycle will start all over again!

Google talked about its plans for Android in the future pretty extensively at this year’s Google I/O 2016. The company has ideas about how it can solve fragmentation in its platform, but these are just ideas and it will still be quite some time before we see any advancements in this regard.

Something is required, though. Recent figures from Google’s Android Usage Page reveals just 10% of current Android handsets are running Android Marshmallow — that is an exceptionally low figure for a platform as big as Android. Even more so when you compare adoption rates to Apple’s iOS platform, despite the differences between how Google and Apple do things.

Here’s a break down of the Android spread across devices between May and June:

Android 6.0 Marshmallow (October 2015): Up 2.6 points to 10.1 percent
Android 5.0/5.1 Lollipop (November 2014, March 2015): Down 0.2 points to 35.4 percent
Android 4.4 KitKat (October 2013): Down 0.9 points to 31.6 percent
Android 4.1/4.2/4.3 Jelly Bean (July 2012, November 2012, and July 2013): Down 1.2 points to 18.9 percent
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (December 2011): Down 0.1 points to 1.9 percent
Android 2.3 Gingerbread (February 2011): Down 0.2 points to 2.0 percent
Android 2.2 Froyo (May 2010): Flat at 0.1 percent

FINAL Developer Preview of Android Nougat Lands

Android Nougat is different to previous builds, however, as the BETA versions, which are now out in the wild and up and running on some Nexus handsets, are more stable than ever — almost release-grade stable. This means if you have a Nexus phone and you don’t mind dealing with the odd glitch then you can download Android Nougat right now.

It is still in BETA, however, so you should expect to see some changes once the final build drops this autumn. New features are almost certain, as are design changes, as Google puts the finishing touches on the latest build of Android before shipping it off to the masses.

Android Nougat will get a release date later this summer. Likely alongside a pair of brand new, HTC-made Nexus phones. To date, there have been a bunch of developer previews. This week, Google released the final developer preview — Android Nougat Developer Preview 5.

As always, only a select few Android handsets can actually get in on this developer preview action — namely Nexus phones — as these preview builds are predominantly meant for developers, so they can get their applications and games in order prior to the official rollout.

This build of Android Nougat includes:

System images for Nexus and other preview devices
An emulator that you can use for doing the final testing of your apps to make sure they’re ready
The final N APIs (API level 24) and latest system behaviors and UI
The latest bug fixes and optimizations across the system and in preinstalled apps

“Working with this latest Developer Preview,” said Google, “you should make sure your app handles all of the system behavior changes in Android N, like Doze on the Go, background optimizations, screen zoom, permissions changes, and more. Plus, you can take advantage of new developer features in Android N such as Multi-window support, Direct Reply and other notifications enhancements, Direct boot, new emojis and more.”

If you’re already in Google’s Android N beta programme, you’re phone will update over the air. If you’re not and you fancy taking a look at the Android Nougat Preview on your compatible Nexus phone you can do so here — android.com/beta.

The Nougat Developer Preview is available for Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, and Pixel C devices, as well as General Mobile 4G [Android One] devices.

The Android engineering team will host a Reddit AMA on r/androiddev to answer all your technical questions about the platform tomorrow, July 19 from 12-2 PM (Pacific Time).

Android Nougat Release Date: When Will It Be Available?

There’s been a lot of beta versions of Android N, but when the actual, gold-standard version will arrive is still a bit vague. Google has mentioned a possible Q3 launch, meaning it could be here before September, although it could be sooner. The final dev-build is planned for July, so an August release certainly isn’t out of the question. As of July 19 Google has launched the final Developer Preview build, meaning whatever launches next should be the final public build; which probably means new phones followed by a rollout to Nexus hardware, and then to everything else over a period of several months. Google's next Nexus phones, the Sailfish and Marlin built by HTC, are leaking like crazy at the moment, adding further weight to the idea that a launch is not too far away.

The new Developer build features a boat-load of bugfixes, as well as final version APIs (finalised UI and features), and Google says it contains "near-final system updates for all of the supported preview devices," basically meaning that applications tested and polished in this build are going to be consumer-ready.

As to whether the next version of Android will be called Android 7 remains to be seen. Google has opted in the past to treat updates as increments within a solid number like Android Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean and KitKat which were versions 4.0, 4.1 and 4.4 respectively, meaning there is a chance Android N could remain in the Marshmallow numerical system.

HOWEVER, Samsung did drop a clanger not so long ago when it confirmed the next version of Android would be called Android 7 inside its MultiWindow SDK 1.3.1, which stated, “this version has been released with Android N(7.0) compatibility.”

This next version of Android looks to be rather special too, and that usually means a big number update. Things like Daydream, design tweaks and the like are usually reserved for when Google changes numbers — just as with Apple’s iPhones. Big changes warrant solid number updates in the branding, as it connotes something more than the usual, incremental tweaks.

Android Nougat Update: When Will YOUR Phone Get It?

As of right now, this is the Android N update schedule for Nexus:

March: Android N developer preview 1 (alpha)
April: Android N developer preview 2 (beta)
May: Android N developer preview 3 (beta)
June: Android N developer preview 4 (with final APIs and SDK)
July: Android N developer preview 5 (near-final build)
August/September: Final Android 7.0 AOSP build

Nexus is always first in line. This is why KYM has been recommending Nexus handsets for years. If you love Android and hate bloatware there really is no better handset. Last year’s Nexus 6P was superb in almost every regard and this year’s Nexus 2016 phones — both of which apparently HTC-built — are shaping up to be utterly awesome, if present rumours are taken at face value.

But if you, like the majority of Android users, aren't rocking a Nexus handset, well, you might just have to wait that little bit longer for Android N to arrive on your device. The reasons for this are myriad. Unfortunately, long delays on Android updates, even for flagship phones, is a fact of life within the Android Kingdom.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at each of Google’s major hardware partner’s track-records with Android updates.