We got to see Android P in action back in March when Google had released the first ever developer preview of the yet-to-be-named version of Android. The second iteration was released at the same time as Google I/O, and today, the third version of the preview is being rolled out. It’ll be a while before we see a stable release of the OS, so the developer previews are all we have to get an insight into the changes it brings.
Unfortunately for Nexus users, Android Oreo is where support ends officially, as Google didn’t release a developer preview for Nexus devices. There may very well be community-developed Android P ports, but this is where Google draws the line. Currently, the only Google devices that support the release are the Pixel and Pixel 2, along with their XL variants.
Related How to Install the Android P Developer Preview 3 on the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL
For those of you who are already running the Android P developer preview on your Pixels, an OTA should hit your device shortly. Other OEMs should follow suit soon, and the factory images/OTAs should be ready for download/sideload on their sites shortly. Do note that this is a version intended for developers only and might not function well as a daily driver. Here’s a list of known issues posted on Google’s blog post following the release. The complete list of changes can be found here.
Accessibility
- Users who depend on Accessibility Services—such as Talkback and Switch Access— may have challenges using this Android beta build, particularly the new system navigation, Overview, and the Launcher.
Performance and battery
- System and app performance is known to be periodically slow and janky, and devices may become occasionally unresponsive. These problems may become more acute with prolonged use.
- Battery life may be regressed in this release for screen-on and screen-off use cases.
System UI
- System navigation still experiences some jank and frozen states on Pixel devices.
- Intermittent stability issues in
SurfaceControlwhen capturing a screenshot.
Connectivity
- Playback over Bluetooth may be unstable in some cases.
- Paired devices may be unable to change device volume.
- Devices cannot communicate with NFC readers.
If you’re running Android Oreo and wish to sideload the developer preview, it’ll require a complete wipe of the device and an unlocked bootloader. You can read the complete guide here, although you’ll have to replace the DP1 files with their DP3 counterparts. The OTA files weigh in at about 1GB, so it’ll take some time for them to download.
If you’re still on the first version of the developer preview, it is recommended that you do a clean install, as upgrading it via OTA results in unexpected hindrances along the way.
