Google is likely to release Android 16 earlier than usual next year, according to details spotted on the company's documentation for its smartphone operating system. The source code for Android 15 was released last month, but Google's Pixel smartphones are yet to receive an update to the company's latest operating system. This purported switch might allow Google to ship its next generation of smartphones with Android 16 out-of-the-box, something that wasn't possible with the Pixel 9 series. Meanwhile, Google is reportedly resetting the alphabet based internal codename for Android 15 and Android 16.
The company's Android 15 Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) includes references to an "Android 25Q2" release (via Android Authority) that seems to be the next version of Google's smartphone OS. The publication also spotted a comment from a Googler in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) that refers to a change that will be introduced with “25Q2/Android W”.
Google's Android CDD refers to an "25Q2 release"
Photo Credit: Screenshot/ Google
Other references to upcoming API changes related to the purported 25Q2 release also supports the theory that it will be a major release and not an Android 15 quarterly platform release (QPR). This is because Google freezes the addition of new APIs before releasing a new OS version, and no new APIs can be added until the next version update.
These clues suggest that Android 16 will arrive much earlier than previous versions, which have typically been released in September or October in recent years. It is currently unclear whether Google's Pixel smartphones will also receive an early update to Android 16 next year.
One reason for this change could be so that Google can ensure that the latest version of Android is ready to ship on its smartphones — the Pixel 9 series is running on Android 14, which was released a year ago.
Meanwhile, a separate report claims that Google has reset the alphabet-based codenames for its upcoming Android versions, starting with Android 15, which was previously referred to as Vanilla Ice Cream. While Android 16 was expected to be codenamed with a dessert starting with the letter W, it appears that the series has already been reset.
While Android 15 was previously referred to as Vanilla Ice Cream internally, Google's latest build numbers suggest that the letter V has been replaced with A. Similarly, Android 16 will be codenamed 'baklava', according to the publication. While the term has already been spotted in code for the upcoming version, some Google engineers are still referring to the release as Android W.
