Thanks to better tools and infrastructure, creating and distributing new Android versions has become simpler over the years. However, one thing remained the same until recently: how Google’s developers handled the core code of Android.
As explained by Rahman, earlier this year Google adopted a new development approach called “trunk-based development” to make Android more stable. In this model, all developers work on a single, main version of the code, using flags to decide which features are active in specific builds. This change has already shown positive results and might be the reason Google feels confident enough to release updates sooner.
Android 16 25Q2 release reference in AOSP. | Image credit — Android Authority
If 25Q2 does indeed refer to Android 16, Google plans to release it in the second quarter of 2025, possibly around June. While an April or May release seems unlikely, an earlier release could coincide with Google I/O, their big developer conference. It would also mean that next year’s Pixel phones would launch with the latest Android version.
Should this be the case, this news is actually pretty exciting. A faster Android release cycle could mean getting new features and improvements sooner. As a consumer, I’m curious to see how this affects the launch of new Pixel phones and whether other phone makers will also start delivering updates more quickly. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.
