Android 14 is here, but you should not download it, unless..
Even if your fingers are itching, because you want to get your hands on the next major Android release -- Android 14 -- there are good reasons to wait for the official release later this year.
Android 14 is this year's major release of the mobile operating system. It includes many improvements and new features, including third-party support for managing passkeys, user privacy and security improvements, and a lot more.
All of that sounds good and Android 14 is actually available already. Google published the second developer preview of Android 14 earlier today. The official name of the release, Android 14 Developer Preview 2, reveals the target audience clearly.
Android 14 is not available as a stable release yet. In fact, it will take more than half a year before Google releases the final version of Android 14. The first Android devices will receive the update near the end of 2023, with Google Pixel devices likely the first to receive it. Other manufacturers, like Samsung Electronics, Sony or Motorola, will release updates for devices that are still supported officially by the companies.
Android 14 is reaching the final stage of the development phase. What follows is a beta phase, which is scheduled to begin in April 2023 and go over into a platform stability phase, which is scheduled to begin in June 2023. The end of the stability phase is fluent, as it depends largely on the stability of the platform. Lots of bugs or issues may require additional bug fixing, but it is certain that Android 14 Final will be released in the second half of 2023.
Who should install Android 14 right now?
Now that it is clear that regular Android users should stay away from Android 14 right now, it is time to look at who may want to install Android 14 at this stage in development.
Several groups need to be mentioned here, besides developers and engineers who work on Android directly:
- Application developers -- To make sure that their apps continue to work in Android 14. Also, to integrate new features or changes, and release them as soon as Android 14 is out.
- Android device manufacturers -- Manufacturers, more precisely those working as engineers and testers for manufacturers, may also have a vetted interest in getting their hands on Android 14 as early as possible.
- Interested users -- Some users do not mind running beta or alpha releases. They are interested in the latest technology and want to get their hands on anything that is new immediately.
A spare device is recommended in any event. Android users who are interested in testing Android 14 may head over to the official download page. There, Google reveals that Android 14 is available for select Google Pixel devices, Pixel 4a 5G and up, and for Android emulators. Google recommends using the official Android Flash Tool, but the official Pixel downloads page offers images for users who want to flash devices manually instead.
Now You: what do you expect from Android 14?
Thanks for the tip Martin.
It is for these kinds of posts that I follow GHacks.
What’s up with the generic comment, are you a bot?
2G?
Where on the planet is that still in use? I was forced to give up using my RAZRV3 years ago because 2G was phased out by AT&T.
Everywhere 3G has been turned off and you don’t have LTE coverage, and believe me there are many developed countries where this is the case and if it weren’t for 2G you wouldn’t even be able to make a phone call.
Maybe I missed it, but I don’t believe tha term “2G” is in the article. Perhaps you are referring to “AGM G2”??
@Martin
Your website has gone insane.
When I the post button I then saw my comment posted on a different article page. When I opened this article again, it is here.
@Tachy @Martin Brinkmann
” Your website has gone insane. ”
Same here. Has happened several times.
@Tachy,
@Martin P.,
For over two weeks now,
I’ve been seeing “Comments” posted by subscribers appearing in different, unrelated articles.
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572991
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572951
For the time being,
it would be better to specify the “article name and URL” at the beginning of the post.
@tachy a lot of non-phone devices with a sim in them rely on 2G, at least here in europe.
Usually things reporting usage or errors/alarms on something remote that does not get day to day inspection in person. They are out there in vast numbers doing important work. Reliable, good range. The low datarate is no problem at all in those cases.
3G is gone or on its last legs everywhere, but this stuff still has too much use to cancel.
Anyhow, interesting that they would put that in. I can see the point if you suspect a hostile 2G environment (amateur eavesdroppers with laptop, ranging up to professional grade MITM fake towers while “strangely” not getting the stronger crypto voip 4G because it is being jammed, and back down to something as old ‘stingray’ devices fallen into the wrong hands).
But does this also mean that they have handled and rolled out a fix for that nasty 4G ‘pwn by broadcast’ problem you reported earlier this year? I had 4G disabled due to that, on the off chance that some of the local criminals would buy some cheap chinese gear, download a working exploit and probe every phone in range all over town in the hope of getting into phones of the police.
>”While most may never be attacked in stingrays, it is still recommended to disable 2G cellular connections, especially since it does not have any downsides.”
The downside would be losing connectivity. I spend a lot of time way out in the countryside where there’s often no service or almost none. My network allows 2G, and I need it sometimes. I have an option on the phone to disable 2G, I may do that when I’m in the city and I have good 5G connectivity, but not out in the country.
I would imagine that the stingray exploits, like most of the bad things in this world, are probably things you will run into in the crowded big cities.
I stopped using it in a mobile (Wi-Fi line) environment, so I’m almost ignorant of the actual situation,
But the recent reality in Japan makes me realize that “the infrastructure of the web is nothing more than a papier-mâché fiction”.
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/17/google-chrome-to-enable-https-first-by-default-for-all-users/#comment-4572402
It is already beyond the scope of what an individual can do.
What we should be aware of is the reality that “governments and those in power want to control the world through the Web”, and efforts to counter (resist and prevent) such ambitions are necessary.
Why do you want people to disable the privacy features? Hmmmmm?
Now You: do you plan to keep the Ads privacy features enabled?
I’d like to tell you, but apparently if you make a post critical of Google, you get censored. * [Editor: removed, just try to bring your opinion across without attacking anyone]
@Martin
You website is still psychotic. Comments attach to random stories.
@Martin please do fix the comments, it’s completely insane commenting here! :[
@Martin
The comments are seriously messed up on gHacks now. These comments are mixed with the article at the below URL.
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/18/android-how-to-disable-2g-cellular-connections-to-improve-security/
And comments on other articles are from as far back as 2010.
What does this article has anything to do with all the comments on this article? LOL I think this Websuite is ran by ChatGPT. every article is messed up. Some older comments from 2015 shown up in recant articles, LOL
The picture captioned “Clearing the Android Auto’s cache might resolve the issue” is from Apple Carplay ;)
How about other things that matter:
Drop survival?
Screen toughness?
Degree of water and dust protection?