Google did not have any main bulletins at MWC 2025, however the firm remains to be very a lot current. There is a little bit of Google in nearly each nook on the present, however within the midst of all the thrill on the present ground, I used to be capable of sit with Seang Chau, VP and GM of Android Platform, to debate what to look ahead to in 2025. And whereas AI underscored almost the whole lot on the docket, we additionally dove into Android 16’s accelerated timeline and the plan to enhance replace assist throughout OEMs.
Enhancing Android updates throughout the board appears to be a serious point of interest for the corporate this 12 months, from enhancing the timing of machine launches to creating it simpler for OEMs to assist software program longer than they historically have. And whereas this might not be as thrilling as new Gemini options, getting everybody on the identical web page with Android updates is simply as vital, if no more so.
Android’s new schedule
When the Android 16 Developer preview commenced, Google introduced that it was making a serious change to its schedule. As a substitute of following its normal launch timing, the steady replace would launch sooner, particularly in Q2. This implies we are able to anticipate the replace to reach by June on the newest, placing it months forward of earlier releases.
Once I requested Chau in regards to the accelerated timeline, he stated there are a number of the reason why Android 16 is coming a lot sooner.
“The primary is, we’re getting suggestions from our OEM companions that ‘Hey, the sooner you’ll be able to launch, the extra doubtless we are able to push new [software] after we launch a brand new handset in that very same 12 months.’
As a result of for those who have a look at among the greatest releases throughout the 12 months, if we’re releasing a brand new Android model in August or September, it is actually laborious to launch a cellphone that very same 12 months with the most recent launch, after which you need to wait nonetheless many months earlier than you get the most recent Android launch.”
This was very true final 12 months when the Pixel 9 launched in August final 12 months with out the most recent Android launch. Though the telephones arrived a bit earlier in comparison with the earlier launch, many discovered it unusual that Google waited till after they had been launched to push Android 15.
Many flagship or sub-flagship launches occur within the second half of the 12 months, which made the timing of earlier Android releases tough. Samsung is a type of firms that launch new telephones in July or August, which suggests they often include final 12 months’s software program earlier than the corporate launches a beta and ultimately the steady model later within the 12 months, often beginning in This fall.
With Android 16 set to reach a lot sooner, this ought to assist firms keep away from that awkward launch window after a brand new replace has been launched. Which means the Pixel 10 ought to include Android 16 out of the field. The brand new schedule means new telephones from different OEMs can get the brand new software program and hopefully be up to date sooner.
Chau additionally notes that another excuse the corporate moved up the Android 16 replace is as a result of the corporate “needed to have the ability to transfer quicker with respect to APIs.” And whereas the transfer is partially AI-driven, he says that, in the end, it simply is smart.
“As shortly because the market is shifting, and as shortly as our builders want to have the ability to transfer with a purpose to construct new performance, particularly round AI, we have to guarantee that we are able to add that functionality and people APIs a number of occasions a 12 months.
So, with a purpose to do this, it did not make sense to launch one thing in August or September, after which, like, a pair months later put out one other launch with an API replace.”
Constructing higher assist
Updating a cellphone is one factor, nevertheless it’s one other factor to proceed pushing updates for a cellphone for years after the machine is launched. The Pixel made the primary main push for prolonged replace assist, promising seven years of OS upgrades and safety updates. Samsung then adopted go well with with its flagship Galaxy telephones.
However that sort of assist hasn’t been widespread within the Android area, and it positively takes numerous assets to supply it. This is the reason the current announcement from Qualcomm and Google is such an enormous deal, making it simpler for OEMs to assist their gadgets for as much as eight years. That stated, whereas we have seen Honor be a part of the seven-year membership, it is in the end as much as OEMs in the event that they wish to deliver that stage of assist to gadgets. Chau says he hopes the transfer will encourage extra OEMs to comply with.
“One of many driving elements round that is sustainability, after all, however actually, it is as a way to preserve your gadgets longer. And for those who resolve to go that machine down or return it, you are capable of retain extra [secondary market] worth.” Chau says the hope is that longer assist for gadgets will assist drive extra adoption of Android telephones, with shoppers realizing their gadgets will stay safe for years to come back.
In truth, that is partially what drove some long-term Pixel customers that I do know to improve from their Pixel 2 and Pixel 3 gadgets after assist ended for them. Although they had been intrigued by the inexpensive Pixel 6a, they ultimately pulled the set off when the Pixel 7 launched with improved replace assist (which has since been prolonged by one other two years), particularly since they weren’t planning to improve once more for some time.
Google’s Pixel telephones have arguably one of the best software program replace coverage, and now, that stage of assist will be prolonged to different gadgets, though it wasn’t with out its challenges.
“One of many greatest obstacles was SoC assist,” Chau notes, highlighting that the transition to Tensor SoC helped deliver that stage of dedication to Pixel telephones.
“One of many challenges, after all, is Linux because the underlying working system. The long-term assist interval for various variations of Linux kernels was really shortened. So, we needed to work with the SoC distributors and our companions to guarantee that we may really improve the kernel.” He notes that this has been very tough prior to now, which highlights the significance of this new collaboration with Qualcomm.
For now, the eight years of assist is supported on the brand new Snapdragon 8 Elite, which powers immediately’s finest Android telephones. Nonetheless, this may even prolong to future 8-series chips in addition to future 7-series chips, that are anticipated later this 12 months.
What’s extra, Qualcomm notes that this assist can decrease prices for OEMs serious about including prolonged software program assist for his or her telephones. As somebody who loves Motorola telephones, I hope this implies the corporate can will add higher (and quicker) assist to its newer gadgets.
Making updates higher so your cellphone would not worsen
With Android 16 nonetheless in beta, Chau wasn’t capable of speak about what we are able to anticipate from the steady replace later this 12 months, however he did word that regardless of among the rhetoric round prolonged replace assist, Google is concentrated on making every replace higher than the final and making issues extra environment friendly.
“We have promised seven years of updates on Pixel, and we labored with Qualcomm to get to eight years. I see numerous sentiment, let’s say, like ‘Who cares about eight years as a result of it should make it worse’ and all these different issues. We’re actually working laborious to guarantee that that is not the case.
Each launch, we wish to make certain it’s higher than the final one, together with efficiency, battery life, and so on.”
Chau acknowledges that some options would require extra energy, which is par for the course in the case of updates. We lately noticed this in motion with the Galaxy S25 sequence, which has options that require the brand new Snapdragon 8 Elite for AI processing, which are not out there on earlier fashions. It is also simply as widespread with Pixels resulting from extra highly effective chips having the ability to deal with extra power-hungry duties.
Nonetheless, Chau says Google tries to offset this by discovering beneficial properties elsewhere, which might typically imply a bump in efficiency when a brand new replace rolls round, even when a function or two are sacrificed resulting from a scarcity of energy.
Finally, the query turns into, “How will we make the releases higher in order that we’re not making your cellphone worse?”
Fortuitously, with the brand new Android 16 launch schedule and a promise to assist OEMs replace their telephones longer (and hopefully quicker), 2025 is shaping as much as be a pivotal second for Android updates.
