Google drops surprise fourth Android 11 developer preview, shifts release dates

Google dropped the third developer preview of Android 11 just a few weeks ago, and we fully expected the next iteration to be the first beta. However, today Google dropped a surprise fourth Android 11 developer preview.

With this fourth Android 11 developer preview, Google has slightly shifted the launch timeline. Now the first beta will land in June, the second in July, and the third (and supposedly final) in August. As such, you can expect the stable version of Android 11 to land in late August or early September.

For the first beta, Google officially announced a launch event that will happen on June 3, 2020. However, Google accidentally leaked most of the information for that event earlier today, which we covered here.

Since the third Android 11 developer preview is still relatively fresh, there’s likely not too much new in this fourth iteration. We will dive into it today to find anything cool, but it’s likely all we’ll see are some bug fixes. Instead, the first beta that will launch in June will probably be where we’ll see bigger updates.

Related: The most notable new Android 11 features we’ve found so far

Speaking of which, that event in June will be the first time people who own non-Pixel devices will be able to give Android 11 a shot. You’ll still need to own a compatible device, but last year’s list was pretty comprehensive, so there’s a good chance your phone will work. Just keep in mind that the first beta won’t be too different from this Android 11 developer preview, and probably shouldn’t be used as a daily driver.

As far as the fourth Android 11 developer preview goes, if you want to install it on your Pixel phone, follow our instructions here. It will be available for download today for all Pixel phones except first-gen devices.