Sometime last week, Google officially released the Android 13. However, what we have at the moment is the developer preview version. This means that only developers can try out this new system for now. This new Android version is a major update and it comes with significant changes to its workability. This system focuses on privacy/security, developers’ development tools, and application compatibility.
If you need to try out the Android 13 features, the Developer Preview has everything that you need. Now, developers can start testing their applications. However, it is important to note that after testing, you will have to send feedback(s) to Google. You can use either a smartphone or a tablet to test apps. If you are using a tablet or a foldable smartphone, it will be better to use the Android emulator. In addition, you will have to ensure that the emulator is in a tablet or foldable configuration.
As of now, Google smartphones will seamlessly work with the Android 13 developer preview. However, for other Android devices, you will need to use a 64-bit system image on Android Studio’s Android emulator. If you need more in-depth testing, you will have to use GSI mirroring.
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What to do after setup?
According to Google, once you’re set up, here are some things you should do.
- “Try out new features and APIs: Your feedback is crucial in the early stages of the developer preview. Report issues in Google’s tracker, or give direct feedback via surveys to selected features on the Feedback and Requests page.
- Test your current app for compatibility: Find out if your app is affected by default behavior changes in Android 13. Just install your currently published app on a device or emulator running Android 13 and test it.
- Test your app for opt-in changes: Android 13 has opt-in behavior changes that will only be affected if your app targets the new platform. It is extremely important to understand and assess these changes as early as possible. For ease of testing, you can toggle the switches for these changes individually”.
According to Google, there will be regular updating of the preview system image and SDK. This developer preview is only available via manual download. Like we said earlier, it is not for everyday use, it is for developers’ testing. After manually installing the developer’s preview, you will start getting OTA updates automatically. As of now, the Android 13 beta is not available. We will let you know when the first beta arrives.
