Google Replaces Android Developer Preview With Rolling Canary Channel

BrianFagioli shares a report from NERDS.xyz: Android is changing how it gives developers access to early features. The company is replacing its old Developer Preview model with a new Canary channel that provides rolling updates all year long. This new approach is meant to give developers earlier and more consistent access to experimental tools and APIs.

Previously, Developer Previews had to be manually flashed onto devices. They only ran during the earliest stages of each release cycle and stopped once Android entered the beta phase. That meant promising features that were not quite ready for beta had nowhere to go and no way to collect feedback. The Canary channel solves that by running in parallel with the existing beta program and delivering over the air updates automatically.

Sort of what Apple is doing ...

[drnb]

Sort of what Apple is doing. The standard Software Update dialog has a a "Beta Updates" option. Turn on and you'll get the beta and its updates through the normal software update process.

Rolling canary?

[rossdee]

I wasn't born in this country. Can someone explain to me how (or why) you would roll a canary.

Re: Rolling canary?

[cowbud]

Canary is in reference to a canary in a coal mine. If the canary died in the mine you knew you had to get out fast as the canary is an indicator of how much oxygen the environment has. Rolling meaning always updating. A rolling distribution of software is one that is always using the lateet version of the packages available and you are constantly updating your OS to those new often daily is versions. Debian "sid" is another example of a rolling distro as is Archlinux.

Re:

[nadass]

Carbon monoxide, not oxygen.