Android Nougat was born a few weeks ago when the operating system was still in the fourth developer preview. However, Google has now released the fifth and final developer preview version of Android N, which saw the first developer preview come to life back in March.
According to a post made by Google to the Android Developers blog, the final developer preview version of Android Nougat has now been listed for download. Do you know what this means? Well, it means that the OS is nearly ready as all the bugs and fixes have been taken care of. Still, don’t be too happy since the latest release is still, technically, a preview version of Android N.
In the latest build, Google has included system images for all the devices that are compatible with the OS. Those that were able to participate in the beta program can get the update as an OTA, including the Xperia Z3 model that surprised many when it received support for Android N beta. As far as the consumer version is concerned, there is no word on when exactly Android Nougat will be here. All the company says is that the OS will be here “later this summer.”
There are those who weren’t in the Android N beta program but are now confident that they can test the new Android Nougat developer preview on their handsets. Well, if you belong to this group, there is the option of sideloading the OS on your device.
As mentioned earlier, the final developer preview version comes with fixes to stubborn bugs, finalizes the UI behavior, but it doesn’t bring any new feature to the OS. With Google expected to roll out continuous updates to the OS, the real power of this OS might take time before it is indeed discovered, especially with the likes of Daydream VR and other AR/VR platforms set to flood this second half of the year.