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Welcome to the Android P Deeloper Preiew! deeloper.android.com : Deeloper Preiew 1 Jason Cipriani / CNET : How to install Android P right now Stephen Hall / 9to5Google : Google drops support for Nexus 5X and 6P in Android P Preiew, Pixel C also dropped Ashley Carman / The Verge : Google acknowledges our notch nightmare with Android P Paul Miller / The Verge : Android P drops support for Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, and the Pixel C tablet Caitlin McGarry / Tom's Guide : Android P Features: What's New in Google's Next OS Chris Welch / The Verge : The biggest early isual changes in Android P Natt Garun / The Verge : The easter egg in Android P deeloper preiew looks like an upside down Beats logo Abner Li / 9to5Google : Here's eerything new in Android P Deeloper Preiew 1 [Gallery] Corbin Daenport / Android Police : Android P feature spotlight: Google confirms idle apps can't access microphone or camera Ryne Hager / Android Police : Android P Deeloper Preiew timeline: 5 releases, final ersion scheduled for Q3 Rita El Khoury / Android Police : Google announces Android P: Notch support, multi-camera API, indoor positioning, and more Cody Toombs / Android Police : Android P SDK and emulator images appear in Android SDK Manager Abner Li / 9to5Google : Google launches Android P Deeloper Preiew 1 w/ notification reamp, increased app priacy & security, notch support Juli Cloer / MacRumors : Google Debuts ‘Android P’ With Support for iPhone X-Style Notches Karissa Bell / Mashable : Google is going all-in on smartphone notches for Android P Nathan Ingraham / Engadget : First Android P beta adds full support for notched displays Mishaal Rahman / XDA Deelopers : Android P Deeloper Preiew 1 is here for the Google Pixel/Pixel XL and Pixel 2/Pixel 2 XL Scott Scriens / Android Police : Android P feature spotlight: Google introduces support for display cutouts and notches [sigh] Ryan Whitwam / Android Police : Android P deeloper preiew images and OTA files are now lie, but no beta program yet Tweets: Dieter Bohn / @backlon : Google makes some tweaks to how notifications work in Android P. I try not to P A N I C https://www.theerge.com/... Peter Steinberger / @steipete : Android also adds HEIF image compression to their platform, a year after Apple. I guess this format won then. https://android-deelopers.googleblog.c om/ ... Android Deelopers / @androidde : #AndroidP Deeloper Preiew 1 is aailable today! Read the blog post here → http://android-deelopers.googleblog.co m/ ... Get an early look at some of the new features in the next ersion of Android for testing, deelopment, and don't forget to gie us your feedback. Chris Welch / @chriswelch : I hope Google fixes the main Settings section in Android P. They really oerthought it / made weird separations in Oreo. https://www.theerge.com/... @ow : The next ersion of Android adds “ephemeral profiles” which sound incredible. Sign into any deice, use it like your own, sign out and it's all wiped http://twitter.com/... The Verge / @erge : The easter egg in Android P deeloper preiew looks like an upside down Beats logo http://www.theerge.com/... http://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the start of the Android P cycle: Developer Preview 1 ships with an SDK and emulator images, a five-release timeline ending in a Q3 final build, and headline features that include notch support, a multi-camera API, indoor positioning, HEIF, and new limits on what idle apps can do. It follows the same playbook as the Android N Developer Preview from 2016 — early builds, notification rework, customization — but adds a sharper privacy edge.
Two months later Google widened the program well beyond its own hardware, putting the Android P beta on the Essential Phone, Nokia 7 Plus, Xperia XZ2, and OnePlus 6 alongside Pixels. The other immediate signal is subtraction: the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, and Pixel C are all cut from official support.
First-order effects
- Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, and Pixel C owners lose their path to official Android updates, while developers working against Preview 1 must now design for notched displays and justify microphone and camera use for apps running in the background.
- App developers get the SDK and emulator images today, so privacy-sensitive categories — voice assistants, camera utilities — face rework before the Q3 final release.
Second-order effects
- Partner OEMs pulled into the beta program (Essential, Nokia/HMD, Sony, OnePlus) gain earlier parity with Pixel testing, raising the bar for Android vendors still outside the preview loop.
- Apps that relied on ambient microphone or camera access must move that functionality into foreground sessions or lose it, shifting product designs toward explicit user-triggered capture.
Third-order effects
- Dropping the last Nexus devices completes Google's consolidation of first-party update support around Pixel, making the supported-hardware window shorter even as the preview program itself broadens across brands.
- If the pattern holds toward later cycles — where Android 16 QPR2 marks the end of strictly annual Android releases — the rigid yearly OS milestone this preview timeline assumes gives way to rolling feature drops, changing how developers time their adaptations.
The trend: Android is splitting into two motions at once: a wider developer-preview footprint across partner handsets, and a narrower set of officially supported Google hardware, with the annual release rhythm itself starting to loosen.