Android 12L Beta 2 Now Rolling Out To Pixels

Google is now rolling out the second beta for Android 12L to Pixel devices. You will get the update as an OTA if you are enrolled in the Android Beta Program.

With this second beta, Google is calling it an “incremental beta update” and encouraging developers to “start final compatibility testing for apps, SDKs, and libraries.”

Starting at Beta 2, system behaviors and APIs are finalized. This is the time to begin final testing and development work needed to ensure that a compatible version of your app will be ready for users getting this update. 12L will have a standard API level (API level 32) at this time.

This comes after Google released the final APIs back in December, and there will be a third beta coming out next month, before the consumer release comes in Q1. As usual, you can still file bugs to the Google issue tracker with the Android Beta Feedback app.

The Android 12L Beta 2 update is available with the January security patch for Pixel 3a (XL), Pixel 4 (XL), Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 5, Pixel 5a, Pixel 6, and Pixel 6 Pro and of course via the Android Emulator.

Android 12L is a feature drop, not a new version of Android

While Android 12L does come with the L at the end of the name, it is not a new version of Android, or even a point release. Google sees it as simply a feature drop, and is likely to be the next feature drop for Pixel phones. Honestly, Android 12L won’t be a big difference for Pixel phones, since there’s no Pixel Fold yet.

The main changes with Android 12L is actually for foldables and larger screen devices. Google is optimizing Android even more for foldables, so something like the OPPO Find N is going to work really well with Android 12L.