Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
For the last decade or so, Google has released major Android updates in the fall after an extended developer and beta preview process, but for 2025 at least, that’s changing. Now, Google is planning its major release, which we expect will be Android 16, for Q2 instead of Q3, confirming a recent report from Android Authority.
The announcement says this will “better align with the schedule of device launches across our ecosystem, so more devices can get the major release of Android sooner.” Other changes Google is talking about today include improvements to the Play Store, where users can share preferences for better recommendations on new apps the way they already could for games, and in development, where Google is adding more Gemini AI…
