Android 12 is here as the first developer preview for Google Pixel devices. And as we shared in our last Android 12 guide, it is available for Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 3a, Pixel 3a XL, Pixel 4, Pixel 4 XL, Pixel 4a (5G), and Pixel 5. And if you have any of these Pixel phones, you can enjoy the first Android 12 build with new features. Here you will know how to install Android 12 Developer Preview on Google Pixel Phone.
Developer Preview is the very first build of Android 12 and so there can be some major and minor bugs and it is meant for developers. But you can also install it on your Pixel phone if you want to test out new features. Developer Preview OTAs will not be reaching out on devices and so users need to install Developer Preview manually. And then users will get the next developer preview over the air directly on the device.
How to Get Android 12 Developer Preview on Pixel Phones
Although the Android 12 Developer Preview is available for anyone, you should only install it on your secondary device. In case you want to try Android 12, there are two different approaches for installing the update. And here you will know both, and follow the method which is reliable for your device.
Installing the Android 12 Developer Preview on a stable Android build requires a hard reset to work perfectly. The same case also applies for reverting back to the stable build from a Developer Preview. So, make sure to take a full backup of your phone. Both methods require an ADB and Fastboot driver on your PC. You can also use the Android SDK to get the driver on Windows/Mac/Linux.
How to Install Android 12 Developer Preview using Android Flash Tool
This method requires an unlocked bootloader device, so make sure to first unlock the bootloader of your Google Pixel phone. And then proceed with the following steps.
- On your Google Pixel phone, go to Settings > About Phone, and tap seven times on Build Number to enable developer options.
- Open Developer Options by going to Settings > Developer Options. And enable USB Debugging to use ADB.
- Now connect your Pixel with your PC directly using an original USB cable.
- Open the Android Flash Tool page using this link. It will ask for ADB permission on your browser, allowing it to use ADB.
- On the webpage click on Add New Device, then select the device model and click on Connect.
- Also allow debugging on your phone, when a pop-up appears.
- Now select your connected device on the browser.
- Choose the Developer Preview build from the list. Also select the option to wipe data for clean flash.
- Click on the Install button and just wait for the process to complete.
- Once the flash completes, disconnect your phone and enjoy the latest Android 12.
How to Install Android 12 Developer Preview using Recovery and ADB
This method will also work if you don’t want to unlock bootloader of your Pixel phone. In this method we will be using OTA zip to Update through Recovery.
- Download the Android 12 DP OTA file for your device from here. If the file name is big then rename the file (eg. Update.zip) for an easy process.
- Enable USB Debugging on your Pixel phone. Check out the first method to know the process.
- Now connect your Pixel phone to your PC. You will receive a prompt on your phone, click on Allow to provide debugging access on your phone. If you don’t receive the prompt enter ‘adb devices‘ in CMD and it should show the connected device id.
- Once your Pixel phone is connected to the computer enter the below command to boot the pixel phone into Recovery Mode.
adb reboot recovery
- The phone will now boot into Recovery Mode. Now select the option ‘Apply Update from ADB‘.
- Now run the following command to install Android 12 Developer Preview on your Pixel phone. Make sure to enter the correct file name that you renamed in the first step. Replace Update with the correct file name.
adb sideload Update.zip
- It will now install the update to your Pixel phone. After installing the file select ‘Reboot system now’ to boot into the system.
Now you can enjoy the Android 12 on your Pixel with a lot of new features. Since this is the first developer preview, you may encounter some bugs and so we don’t recommend installing Android 12 Developer Preview on your primary device. Also, we will be sharing a different guide when other OEMs allow installing Android 12 beta on some of their top phones.
So, there you have it the complete guide on how to install Android 12 Developer Preview on Pixel Phones. In case if you have any queries regarding the installation instruction, do let us know in the comment section.
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