Google has announced that it"s replacing its Android Developer Preview program with a new “Canary” release channel. The new channel aims to provide developers with earlier and more consistent access to in-development platform features so they can test out their apps.
The new Canary channel also aims to overcome the Developer Preview model limitations such as manual flashing and discontinuation after the Beta started. Google said the old model created a gap where features that were promising but not yet ready for Beta had no official channel for feedback.
Perhaps the biggest change is that developers will have a specific channel for development build and they’ll benefit from continuous over-the-air updates without needing to manually flash all the time.
The Canary channel, which gives you a rolling stream of the latest platform builds over-the-air, is available for supported Pixel devices. Developers that use these builds will have the opportunity to try out and provide input on new features and planned behavior changes at the earliest stage. It should go without saying but features that show up in Canary builds may not make it into the next stable Android releases.
To get started on the Canary channel, developers need to use the Android Flash Tool to get the Canary build onto a supported Pixel device. After the device is on the Canary channel, it will get OTA updates for the latest Canary builds as soon as they’re available. To exit the Canary channel, you just have to flash the Beta or Public build on your device. This will wipe your data partition.
For developers creating applications, the Android Emulator in Android Studio (Canary channel) will carry these builds in the SDK Manager, so they can be run on your computer. Developers will be able to target Canary releases like any other platform SDK version.
If you run into any issues with the new Canary experience, you can report bugs via the Google Issue Tracker.
Image via Depositphotos.com