It’s time to smash that “Check For Update” button on your Pixel smartphone.
Google announced Android Q Beta 4 earlier today (about an hour ago) and now the update is already rolling out to Pixel smartphones that are enrolled in the Android Beta Program. If you are already enrolled, head to Settings and tap on “Check for Update”. It should be able to pull down the update instantly, or within a few seconds. It may be a bit longer than usual to download the update, seeing as everyone that’s in the Beta Program is also trying to download it at the same time.
The beta is somewhat large, coming in at about 336MB for the Pixel 3 XL. Though that is smaller than the previous betas, leading us to believe that there isn’t as much new with this beta, as we’ve seen with the previous betas.
Android Q Beta 4 is going to be the last beta. As the next two releases will be release candidates – essentially versions of Android Q that are almost final. Android Q is going to be Android 10, as Google confirmed at I/O last month, however the name for Android Q has not been announced yet. Expect that to come around July or August, as we get closer to the final release.
Google typically pushes out the stable release of new versions of Android around August. Which is a full two months ahead of the new Pixel smartphone launch.
With Android Q Beta 4, developers are going to be able to start updating their apps and testing out different Android Q features. Google did make a lot of changes for developers with Android Q or API 29. Especially when it comes to location permissions, and the new sharing menu. So it’s important that developers take some time to test out those changes. Google does have a handy checklist available for developers to follow.
Google is also allowing developers to begin pushing Android Q updates to their apps on the Google Play Store. So if you are a developer, and want to push out an Android Q-ready app update, you can do so. This is a good way for app developers to get some more users to test out the app, before Android Q is available to everyone.
With this latest beta, you are also getting the June 2019 security patch, which just rolled out this past Monday to all Pixel smartphones. So those on the beta will also be using the latest security patch, and that is a good thing.
If you aren’t already in the Android Beta Program, and want to try out Android Q on your Pixel smartphone, you can opt-in here. If you have another smartphone like the OnePlus 7 Pro, that does support the Android Q beta, you’ll need to wait for OnePlus to roll it out to your device, and you can sign up on their website, as Google does not handle that part of the open beta, just yet. But this is a good way to check out Android Q and help Google find bugs to fix.