Google Shifts Next Major Android Release to Q2 2025

Google revealed that starting with Android 16 it will no longer ship a major annual OS upgrade in the third quarter each year. Instead, it is shifting the release to the second quarter to better align with new device launches.

Going forward, Android will have more frequent SDK releases … [that] will help to drive faster innovation in apps and devices, with higher stability and polish for users and developers,” Google’s Matthew McCullough explains. “Next year, we’ll have a major release in Q2 and a minor release in Q4, both of which will include new developer APIs. The Q2 major release will be the only release in 2025 to include behavior changes that can affect apps. We’re planning the major release for Q2 rather than Q3 to better align with the schedule of device launches across our ecosystem, so more devices can get the major release of Android sooner.”

This is somewhat confused by the developer focus of this announcement. And it’s difficult to rectify this change with what Google tried to do this and last year: In both cases, it started down its normal Android release schedule with the goal of winding things down more quickly than usual. And in both cases, it failed, this year spectacularly: It intended to ship Android 15 broadly in August but missed that mark by almost two months.

It’s also easy to see this as being somewhat self-serving: Tied to the Android schedule shift, Google this past year announced its major new Pixel devices together in August instead of releasing some in May/June and some in October as before. But I suspect this has more to do–or at least as much to do–with Samsung’s release schedule, and perhaps that of other hardware makers. Samsung has a major Android product release each January/February, but its late summer launch is becoming bigger as the firm shifts its focus to the more lucrative folding devices that it ships at that time.

Regardless of the rationale, Android 16 will have a shorter development time than previous releases. It will arrive in Q2 2025, so by the end of June 2025, an inarguably better release window than the current schedule given the back-to-school and end-of-year holiday selling seasons that follow. That release will be accompanied by a major Android SDK release for developers that includes new APIs, changes to OS behaviors, and new features. And then Google will ship a minor SDK release for Android 16 in Q4 that has new APIs and features, but no changes to OS behaviors.

Outside of those releases, Google will continue to provide quarterly Android feature releases that span the supported OS versions, as it does now. (And though it doesn’t say this, I assume these will be accompanied by quarterly Pixel Drop that includes Pixel-specific features, as is the case today.) “Our Q1 and Q3 releases will provide incremental updates to help ensure continuous quality,” McCullough says of these updates.

The question now is when and how this starts. For the past several years, Google has maintained Quarterly Platform Release (QPR) betas in addition to the main annual betas, so I assume that will continue. But instead of moving from Android 15 to Android 15 QPR1 or QPR2, developers may soon get the option to shift to an Android 16 Developer Preview instead. I guess we’ll see. Either way, there are/will be Android 15 QPR milestones too.

“We will make all of our quarterly releases available to you for testing and feedback, with over-the-air Beta releases for our early testers on Pixel and downloadable system images and tools for developers,” McCullough adds. “Our aim with these changes is to enable faster innovation and a higher level of quality and polish across releases, without introducing more overhead or costs for developers. At the same time, we’re welcoming an even closer collaboration with you throughout the year. Stay tuned for more information on the first developer preview of Android 16.”