Android O On Google Devices: How To Guide For Installing The Developer Preview

Google recently announced the successor to Android's Nougat OS, "Android O". While the naming for the new mobile operating system from the Mountain View giant is undecided yet, the public opinion points out to a single name, Android "Oreo." Hence, ongoing rumors suggest that Google might name Android 8.0 as "Android Oreo." Google recently announced the developer preview images of the upcoming operating system, and the same is now available for download.

As usual, the developer preview is made available only for existing Google devices like the Nexus Smartphones, Pixel Devices and surprisingly, the Nexus Player. Factory images of "Android O" system are available for Nexus 5X, 6P, Pixel, Pixel XL and the Pixel C tablet. Other devices mentioned include Android TV STP and the Nexus Player, as reported by 9To5Google.

While the developer previews are available for all these devices, the same cannot be downloaded over the air(OTA). Since this is not a beta release, the only possible way for users to enjoy a sneak peek "Android O" is to download the images from Google developers and sideload it to their phones. Image previews of all devices can be accessed by Android developers.

While the process is pretty simple for a fairly experienced Android user, the same cannot be concluded for everybody. That said, sideloading the images require a bit of knowledge about the process and hence it's not recommended for everyone. Experienced users as always can download the images of "Android O" for their necessary devices, and flash them through ADB on the Android SDK.

That said; as a gentle reminder, backing up all files before continuing with the process is always recommended since nothing can be recovered post-process. Google has kindly provided preview versions of all Google devices on their website which should be fairly easy to spot. Overall, Google has done a great job by releasing the image previews for "Android O" as always, which is a bonus for all buyers opting for Google devices.