The first Android 14 beta is out! Here’s how to get early access and download the software on your phone right now.
Earlier this year, Google began offering developer previews of Android 14 for folks who wanted a very preliminary look at what the next major release of Android has to offer. While those initial developer previews weren’t for the faint of heart, they were available for anyone to install — as long as you were willing to jump through a few hoops merely to risk running a very unstable release that could potentially brick your phone.
Thankfully, we’re now past that early preview period, and the first official Android 14 beta has arrived, making it much easier for anyone toting a compatible Pixel phone to try out Android 14 in advance of the final release later this year.
While the Android 14 developer previews needed to be installed over a wired connection from a PC, public Android 14 betas can be installed over the air (OTA), just like any other Android update. Still, don’t be fooled by this easy installation process — Android 14 is still beta software, and this is only the very first beta. While it’s unlikely to blow up your phone, at this early stage, you should still expect glitches, half-baked features, and other oddities.
In fact, unless you enjoy living on the edge, we’d recommend steering clear of installing it on any phone you depend on — especially right out of the gate like this. The new beta may be more easily available, but it’s still intended primarily to help developers get their apps ready. Most developers have secondary devices they can install betas on for testing purposes. Google makes it clear that these betas „may contain errors and defects that can affect the normal functioning of your device.“
This is only the first of what will be several betas over the next few weeks, and you can jump in at any time. Google also expects to reach „platform stability“ by June, which is the stage where the betas should be more polished and stable as it moves closer to the final release.
Nevertheless, whether you want to forge ahead into the world of Android 14 betas today or further down the road, here’s how to go about it.Confirm your phone is compatible with Android 14
Sorry, Samsung, OnePlus, or Motorola fans; whether it’s developer previews or public betas, Google only makes prerelease Android versions available for its Pixel phones. In this case, that’s the Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 5, Pixel 5a, Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, and Pixel 7 Pro. Unless you have one of these phones to spare, you’re going to have to wait for the final Android 14 release later this year. Alternatively, you can try out Android 14 using Android Emulator found in the latest version of Android Studio, but that’s also intended mostly for developer testing, so that won’t be nearly as fun as running it on your phone.Back up your phone
It’s always a good idea to back up your phone before installing any major Android release, and that’s doubly true when working with beta releases. Since only Pixel phones are eligible for the Android 14 beta, your phone is likely already backing itself up to the cloud automatically. You can confirm this in our guide on how to back up your Android smartphone.
This backup is particularly important when installing the Android 14 beta, as there’s no easy way back to Android 13. If the beta isn’t working out for you, the only way you’ll be able to return to Android 13 is by wiping your phone entirely.
