Google phones, called Google-Pixels, offer a software experience very close to Android that the search engine itself offers. They filled the gap left by the previous Google Nexus and currently also benefit from extensive update support: the Pixel 8 will go through seven versions of the operating system.
Precisely, this software and its update process go through different stages until it reaches users, being tested in preview. This creates some confusion when it comes to whether our Pixel is up to date or out of date. We clarify everything in this article, where we start with the beginning of this story: Android.
From source code to a stable version: Android’s path is that of the Pixel
Android is based on a Linux kernel and is developed openly between Google and many contributors, such as some of the most well-known manufacturers, among other players. Mountain View signing later adapts it to Pixel hardware: When they arrive on the market, they already have stable firmware, corresponding to the most recent Android version. We’ll be following the journey of the last family to explain everything that’s happening around the updates.
As of today, it’s Android 14, released in October alongside the Pixel 8 family last fall, with all Pixels compatible with that version being updated simultaneously. From there go to rest of manufacturers with a longer process, but that’s another story.
Back to Pixels. Once they have the stable update, a process begins that repeats every three months, at least twice a year: here the quarterly updates, called Removing Pixel Features. However, these packages, which usually add new functionality, should also be tested with the beta testers (users who voluntarily test the software to report errors).
From this moment comes the term Android QPR, which adds a number from one to three depending on the quarter of the year in which it will be made public. We already have a stable release, a quarterly one planned and a preview of the latter. They don’t stop there: the Google Pixel can do so much more.
Smooth out the rough edges of the new version of Android. Should be ready by the end of the year
Continuing the example of current releases, the next major release, which usually begins in the fall, begins to take shape almost from the start of the year. What is this preparation process for the official launch? Similar to previous quarterly updates, with one main difference: they don’t start in beta, but Developer Previews. The reason is that the changes introduced in each version of Android affect the applications and therefore their developers.
After summer there are a few months left in which no new features are incorporated, and although they continue to be called beta, they only focus on fix bugs and add performance improvements before the final launch. Between September and October, this should happen…and start again.
This will be when the next major version rolls out, first in the Google Pixel. And we said we’re starting again because this will be the one that goes through the quarterly process again. In the current scenario, Android 15 will debut in fall to begin with quarterly update with Android 15 QPR1, QPR2, etc.
This is the Google Pixel update cycle, something complex to understand, and at the same time strictly necessary so that we can benefit from a stable and fluid system and well equipped with features. If they differ in anything from the rest of Android phones – courtesy of Google’s magical camera – it’s in software: their main virtue.
Cover image | Composition with photos by Iván Linares, Enrique Pérez and Ricardo Aguilar for Xataka
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