Android 14 Hits Beta 3 and Platform Stability

Google announced today that Android 14 has reached the Beta 3 milestone and, with it, platform stability.

“With today’s Android 14 Beta 3 release, we’re continuing into the next phase of the Android development cycle,” Google vice president Dave Burke writes in the announcement post. “It builds upon our core themes of privacy, security, performance, developer productivity, and user customization while continuing to improve the large-screen device experience on tablets, foldables, and more.”

Platform stability means that the Android 14 developer APIs and app-facing behaviors are all now finalized and can be integrated into third-party apps. “Please start your final compatibility testing now and prepare to publish any necessary updates so you can get valuable feedback during the remainder of the beta releases,” Burke adds. “This will help ensure a smooth app experience ahead of the final release of Android 14 later this year.”

Android 14 Beta 3 includes a few minor changes to the release’s non-linear font scaling, partial access for photos and videos, more visible data safety information, required foreground app service types, OpenJDK 17, and security functionality. It includes everything a developer needs to try the new features coming in this release, test apps, and provide Google with feedback. It can also be tested against the Pixel Tablet and Pixel Fold using new 64-bit emulators in Android Studio.

Users with supported Pixels—including the newly-released Pixel 7a—can enroll their devices in the Android 14 Beta now and receive this and future pre-release updates. If your device is already enrolled, you will receive an over-the-air update automatically.

You can learn more on the Android Developer website.