Right after the preview at the Google I/O 2021 event as well as numerous beta updates since that preview, Google has now made the next Android 12 OS update available on the AOSP.
What this means is that you probably won’t be able to have access to this especially if you use popular devices from brands like Samsung, Xiaomi, and so forth.
The official release to the AOSP meant that the code base is being uploaded as an open-source project just the way it was and from there, anyone who knows what they’re doing can pick up the software and make them theirs in as much as they follow the open-source license.
That is why it’s not officially available to devices worldwide majorly because most of the popular smartphones out there make use of their own tweaked-up Android and there is often a timed release which is outside of Google’s control.
Take Samsung’s One UI as an example, even though the core is Android, Samsung adds its own layer of tweaking to the software to personalize it with its own firmware and branding so that the software can work properly with its hardware.
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This is why I said the release is often timed as OEMs often state the date they would release the tweaked version something that is often outside of Google’s control since it’s just the software developer and not the distributor.
For the records, AOSP stands for Android Open Source Project and is being used by companies like Huawei to power a number of its Mate series after it got axed by the US government from working with Google back in 2019.
With that, Huawei is able to control the entirety of the software and even built its own core system on it – the Huawei Mobile Service or HMS to replace Google Mobile Service which is ultimately the core license that OEMs need to get direct software updates from Google as well as compatibility with other Google services such as Gmail, Google Maps, Search and so forth.
Google says it will start rolling out Android 12 to Pixel devices starting sometime in the “next few weeks,” with availability on Samsung, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Tecno, Vivo, and Xiaomi devices to follow later this year.
The good thing about the new update is the newly redesigned user interface which Google named Material You as well as a host of interesting features that makes the operating system better and more privacy-centric.
