Before tackling Android 16, a quick look in the rearview mirror seems appropriate. As a reminder, previous versions of Android tended to be released around the same time, in the third quarter of the year, between August and October. For example, Android 15 was released on September 3 this year, Android 14 on October 4, 2023, Android 13 on August 15, 2022, Android 12 on October 4, 2021… and so on. However, next year, Google will visibly shake up this well-established schedule by releasing its next Android 16 update during the second quarter (i.e. between April and June).
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Android 16 available in Q2 2025
Google confirmed the information that leaked a month ago, also providing details: “the goal is to better align with the release schedule of devices in its ecosystem so that more devices can get the major Android version sooner“. To do this, Google will extend its schedule to offer several major updates per year. Thus, the major release of a new version of Android will now always take place during the second quarter of each year, while the fourth quarter (between October and December) will allow us to welcome a new major update countering many new features, but on the already existing major version.
This essentially means that the next Google Pixel 10, for example, will be released directly with Android 16, rather than Android 15. Anyway, regarding Android 16, Google will soon offer the Preview version for developers and the Android 16 beta program, to best prepare for the update to be put into service during the second quarter. As a reminder, we already know some information about this new update: iOS Dynamic Island notifications could well arrive on this occasion, for example.
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