Alongside the announcement, Google also made available the factory image preview for developers. Although, you’ll have to wait until May to get Android O through the beta program, you can install the early preview on your Pixel or Nexus device. It’s just going to take a little more of work. In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to manually flash your phone or tablet to install Android O and test all the new features.
Android O supported devices Backup your Android device Download ’15 seconds ADB Installer’ Download Android O Configure your Android device How to flash your device using Android O
Android O supported devices
If you want to try Android O, you’ll need one of these compatible devices:
Google Pixel Google Pixel XL Google Pixel C Nexus 5X Nexus 6P Nexus Player
You shouldn’t try to install this version of the mobile OS on any other device other than the ones in the list. Also, remember that Android O is an unfinished product, and you’ll find bugs, you’ll come across errors, and features may not work as expected.
Backup your Android device
Since you’ll be unlocking the bootloader and doing a clean install of the OS, you want to make sure to make a backup of your data before proceeding. You can quickly do this by going to Settings > Backup & reset and make sure your device and app date are backed up. Create a backup of your photos and videos, you can use Google Photos, or you can connect your phone or tablet to your computer and just copy over the DCIM folder. Also, don’t forget to copy other files and folders you may have created.
Download ’15 seconds ADB Installer’
The “15 seconds ADB Installer” is not from Google, but it’s a tool that helps you to install the official Android tools on Windows without needing to download the entire SDK to install only a few items. You can download this tool from XDA forums using the link below.
15 seconds ADB Installer | Download
When you launch the setup, type Y to agree to install ADB and Fastboot. Type Y again when asked to Install ADB system-wide and device drivers. Finally, restart your computer to complete the installation. The installation files will be located inside the adb folder in the C:\ drive.
Download Android O
It’s now the time to download the image that contains the files to install Android O. Google is listing the images to supported devices at the Android developers support site. Under the “Downloads” section, click the download link that correspond to your device. Once the image downloaded on your computer, use a third-party tool like 7zip to extract all its content to C:\adb.
Configure your Android device
Before you can install Android O on Pixel or Nexus devices, you need to enable the developer mode on your device by doing the following:
How to flash your device using Android O
To flash your device with the new Android O preview, power off your phone or tablet, connect it to your computer using a USB data cable, and do the following: OEM Unlocking and USB Debugging options Once you completed the steps, you can start using Android O on your device. It should be noted that to uninstall a Developer Preview to roll back to Android Nougat, you’ll need to do a full device reset, which will remove all data, apps, and settings. If the command returns your phone’s serial number, then everything is working OK so far. All content on this site is provided with no warranties, express or implied. Use any information at your own risk. Always backup of your device and files before making any changes. Privacy policy info.
