Are you still excited about the annual Android updates?

I’m not sure anyone expected October to be such a busy month for Android news. Next to various court rulings That could have enormous consequences for the future of google’s mobile operating system, we saw android 16 features leak, early glimpses of Samsung’s upcoming One UI 7 revisionand of course the full, stable release of Android 15. But perhaps the biggest news came on Halloween, when Google quietly confirmed a big change in how and when it drops major OS upgrades.

In case you missed the news, Google will release two SDK versions next year: one in the second quarter of 2025 and another, smaller upgrade in the usual Q4 slot. While you’ll have to read between the lines a bit to understand the ramifications of this announcement, it means the the full Android 16 launch will come before next summerwhile a second build, possibly Android 16.1, will arrive in the fall. Say goodbye to waiting for an endless beta period because you’ll have a new version on your Pixel 9 before the Pixel 10 even hits stores.

A few years ago this would have been earth-shattering news among Android die-hards, but this week it felt like any other news story, and I think this is the result of a major change in the way the Android community thinks about OS . updates. Since Android 12 and the rollout of Material You, we’ve seen three major annual upgrades that deliver little for general consumers or, frankly, even enthusiasts. While we’ve seen many welcome changes and improvements, for better or worse, Android has matured. Only so much can change from here on out.

Of course, all of this is compounded by a decade of Google rethinking how and when software updates reach its users. Unlike Apple, which still commits app redesigns and additional features to a September release every year, Google delivers the vast majority of its changes via Play Store updates, or via Play Services and server-side updates. If Google decides to tweak the visual design of its calculator or contacts apps, you won’t have to wait months for a single patch before the upgrade arrives on your phone when it’s ready for primetime.

It’s not just the way Android is updated that makes full OS upgrades feel a little more boring than they used to, although it’s also a result of Google moving away from ‘stock’ builds of Android. With the Pixel series running more custom software than ever, virtually every OEM big and small is tailoring its respective operating system experience. There’s no stock Android device you’re likely to encounter anymore; you choose between custom improvements from Samsung, OnePlus, Asus, Motorola and, yes, even Google.

On the one hand, that could make the promise of Android 16’s early arrival disappointing. On the other hand, this means that our smartphone experiences are constantly changing and improving, without having to wait for major improvements to be rolled out once a year. That makes Android all the more exciting, in my opinion just a little more evenly spread over 12 full months. And that doesn’t mean Android doesn’t feel exciting when a new version number appears. Even the smaller leaps forward (like last month’s release, for example) can include plenty of small quality-of-life improvements.

But as always, I’m curious to see what AP readers think. Are you still excited about the annual Android updates as they currently exist? Maybe you’re looking forward to seeing what your preferred OEM does with Google’s new builds, or maybe you’re simply excited about the exclusive Pixel features. Or maybe those expectations of Christmas Eve have left you behind, with only a modern, mature operating system in their place. Let us know in the poll and comments below.