How To Download and Install Android O Beta On Your Nexus or Pixel

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 18 May 2017

Google updated its Android beta program last night with Android O. This means that if you own a compatible Nexus or Pixel device, you can enrol your device into the program to get the Android O DP2 build on your handset right away.

Android O is still a few months away from its release and its DP2 build is likely going to contain plenty of bugs and stability issues. However, if you don’t mind living on the bleeding edge, here’s how you can enrol your compatible Nexus or Pixel device into the Android Beta program and get Android O on it right away.

Before you jump to the steps below, do note that the Android Beta program requires your compatible Nexus or Pixel device to be running a stock build of Android 7.1.2 Nougat. Additionally, installing the Android O Beta build on your handset will not touch your data in any way but it is still recommended that you create a backup of all your important data before proceeding further.

Compatible Devices

Pixel
Pixel XL
Pixel C
Nexus 6P
Nexus 5X
Nexus Player

Step 1: Head over to the Android Beta program website. You will first have to sign in with the same Google account that is currently syncing on your Nexus device.

Step 2: A list of available devices eligible for the beta program will be shown on the page that opens up next, with an ‘Enroll Device’ button next to it.

Android beta program

Step 3: Click on it, accept the terms and conditions from the window that pops up, and click on ‘Join beta.’ And that’s it! You will soon receive an OTA update on your Nexus or Pixel device that will install the second beta of Android O on your device without touching your data in any way.

Since Android O brings some underlying changes to the system, it is possible that some of your installed apps will not work properly under it for now.

You can un-enroll your device by visiting the Android Beta program website and clicking on the ‘Un-enroll device’ option. Do remember that doing this will wipe your device clean of all data.

Once you install the Android O beta build on your Nexus or Pixel device, you will automatically get all future beta builds via an OTA update as well. The final build of the OS will also be pushed to your device when Android O lands later this year.