With the release of Android 16 Developer Preview 1, we’re certainly looking forward to testing out any major changes that Google has planned for our Pixel devices. Since we know the device update schedule for Pixel devices, we assumed that Android 16 would land on the Pixel 6a up through the recently launched Pixel 9 series, since the older Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro were supposed to have been cut off with the release of stable Android 15.
As it turns out, it sure looks like Google is planning to give Android 16 to the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, which is surprising.
For this first release, Google has listed both the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro as eligible for updates to Android 16 Developer Preview 1. The official Android 16 site lists the Pixel 6 up through the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. I find it hard to imagine that Google will drop those later on down the road before the stable release is here in Q2 – why go through all this testing only to leave them out in the end?
As a reminder, Google was originally only planning to give Android version updates to the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro through October 2024. When Android 15 launched in October, we understood that to be it. It is now November 2024 and the Android 16 stable update won’t arrive until Q2 of 2025, well past the end date for the Pixel 6 series. Here we are, though.
There are factory image and OTA files for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro if you are willing to risk testing this first Developer Preview 1. I would suggest you hold off until beta builds, just to make sure that Google really is planning to see this one through. Either way, this is good news for Pixel 6 owners.