Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Android 16 Beta 4 arrives today for Pixel devices.
- New owners of the Pixel 9a can now enroll in the Beta program, their first opportunity to do so.
- Downloads for the Pixel 9a should also be available soon.
Android development is proceeding a little differently this time around, with Google giving work on Android 16 a much earlier start than we’ve come to expect. But while Android 16 is moving on a bold new timetable, Google similarly pushed up its launch of the new A-series Pixel this year, and its latest Pixel 9a has already landed. With Android 16 Beta 4 arriving today for testers, that means the starts have finally aligned to bring the Pixel 9a in on the action.
Owners of the new Pixel 9a are now able to enroll their phone in Google’s Android Beta for Pixel program. Once you do so, you can look forward to receiving your Android 16 Beta 4 update as an OTA update, that you’ll get a notification to install.
While we’ve confirmed that the Pixel 9a can now enroll in this manner, we’ve yet to see Google publish its Android 16 Beta 4 factory images for a manual clean install, nor the OTA for sideloading. Those will almost certainly arrive with Google’s downloads for the rest of its Pixel lineup, which are similarly taking their sweet time to show up.
Admittedly, owners of a brand-new phone (that’s only just now getting bugfixes for some early issues) might not feel super inclined to immedately jump into the bugs-be-expected testing waters of an Android beta, but if that’s the kind of bleeding edge you like to live out on, Google’s happy to lead you right up to it.
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