It’s only January, but the first Android Q rumors are already here. The next major Android update will reportedly ship with built-in dark mode support, a report said recently, while a benchmark test showed us what could be the first Google device running Android Q out of the box. That said, we finally know when Android Q will be available for your Pixel 3 — and likely a bunch of other devices — because Google just announced the dates for I/O 2019.
Developers will get to play with Android Q before early May when I/O 2019 takes place, but I/O is the venue where Google unveils all the new software tricks it’s been developing for its products, including the next major Android update. It’s likely that the first Android Q public beta will be rolled out during I/O to Pixel 3 and other supported devices. And that’s the Android Q beta version most people will want to run on their devices.
#io19 is on the horizon… pic.twitter.com/Aiv0uo44nI
— Google Developers (@googledevs) January 25, 2019
Google earlier on Friday announced that its annual developer conference will take place from May 7th to May 9th at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California. The main keynote, of course, is expected for the first day of the event, and the first Android Q public beta should drop soon after that.
Last year, the first Android P beta was released after the main event at I/O, where Google surprised the audience by announcing that not only Pixel 2 and Pixel devices would be able to run it, but a slew of other Android phones, including several flagships like the Sony Xperia XZ2, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, Oppo R15 Pro, and OnePlus 6 would support the beta as well, Google said — at the time, the OnePlus 6 wasn’t even available to users.
The final Android Q release won’t drop until summer, considering what Google did in previous years, with August being our best guess for the launch. Some people also expect Google to launch the Pixel 3 Lite at I/O 2019. The phone was featured in several reports this year, including a detailed hands-on video that showed a prototype of the unreleased device.
