Android 12 has taken longer to develop than many of its predecessors, but it appears that the finish is near. Google plans to release the AOSP (Android Open Source Project) version of Android 12 on October 4th, according to XDA editor-in-chief Mishaal Rahman. Because the firm frequently releases polished public releases at the same time as AOSP, Pixel owners should expect to receive their upgrade on that day.
This also sets expectations for the Pixel 6 debut if the timetable remains. Google won’t be able to ship its new flagship phones until Android 12 is released, thus the Pixel 6 is unlikely to be unveiled before then. We wouldn’t be surprised if the hardware didn’t show there until October.
If you aren’t using a Pixel, be prepared to wait. While some phone manufacturers are quick to issue important Android updates, others can take months. Samsung did not begin rolling out Android 11 until December 2020, three months after Google released the operating system. Despite Google’s initiatives, such as Project Treble, to reduce update delays, it still takes time for companies to adapt Android to significantly customized interfaces and test the software with users and carriers.