Android 14 Beta 4 released

Speaking of beta programs and doing it right - here's how things are going at the other end of the spectrum.

Today we're bringing you Android 14 Beta 4, continuing our work on polish and performance as we get closer to the general availability release of Android 14. Beta 4 is available for Pixel Tablet and Pixel Fold, in addition to the rest of the supported Pixel family, so you can test your applications on devices spanning multiple form factors and directly experience the work we're doing to improve the large-screen and foldable device experience.

The fact Android betas are only available on an incredibly small subset of Android devices stands in such stark contrast to how Apple does their program. Of course, we all know why that's the case, but that doesn't mean Google gets a pass. I have an Android device running Android 13. I should be able to install Android 14 betas. End of story.

Rant aside, how far along the development process for Android 14 are we?

Beta 4 is our secondPlatform StableAndroid 14 release, which means that the developer APIs and all app-facing behaviors are final for you to review and integrate into your apps, and you can publish apps on Google Play to devices running Android 14 at the official API level.

That indicates we're relatively close to release, meaning most Android users can expect to upgrade somewhere halfway 2024, or when they buy a new device, or not at all.