Android 12 stable hits AOSP, coming to phones soon
Jimmy Westenberg / Android Authority
TL; DR
- The stable start of Android 12 has just reached the Android Open Source Project (AOSP).
- This is an important milestone in the release cycle.
- However, it will be at least days or even weeks before we see phones matter.
Last year, Google released the stable version of Android 11 in early September. Android 11 wasn’t all that different from Android 10 (or Android 9 Pie), however. As a result, it was relatively easy for Google to stick to its proposed release schedule.
However, this does not appear to be the case with Android 12. With the latest version of Android being so different from other versions, it’s no surprise that Google is challenging the stable launch of Android 12 much later than last year.
See also: Every Android 12 verified feature you need to know
Today the company has reached an important milestone: the introduction of Android 12 in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). This means that the real stock version of the operating system is available for everyone to download.
However, the AOSP version of Android 12 and the version you see on Pixel devices are not the same. Hence, today’s news does not mean that you should check for software updates on your supported Pixel phone. Google admits that the stable rollout of Android 12 for Pixel will land “in the next few weeks”.
Still, today’s news is a big deal as it means that the core Android 12 experience is complete. OEMs can now share their own versions of Android 12, and people who want to modify the operating system for custom ROM versions can do so.
Interestingly, it is possible that other OEMs could release a stable version of Android 12 before Google does it for Pixel. We’ll have to wait and see how that plays out, but this could be one of the first times a broad version of Android lands on non-Pixel phones first. Stay tuned.
