Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Android Canary 2604 launched for the Google Pixel 8 series and newer this week, but users of older Pixels were left waiting.
- Google confirmed Android Canary 2604 is now available for the Pixel 6 series, Pixel 7 series, Pixel Fold, and Pixel Tablet as of today.
- The latest Android Canary build adds a few user-facing changes, though it’s highly experimental and shouldn’t be installed on primary devices.
Google released April’s experimental Android Canary build earlier this week, but only for select devices. The initial rollout of Android Canary 2604 (ZP11.260320.007) only included OTA images for the Google Pixel 8 series and newer, excluding the older Pixel 6 series, Pixel 7 series, Pixel Fold, and Pixel Tablet. At the time, Google said OTA images for those devices would come at a later date. Now, Android Canary 2604 is officially available for all eligible devices, including the Pixel 6 series and newer.
Google’s Mishaal Rahman announced the expanded rollout for the latest Android Canary build in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, April 17. Android Canary builds are highly experimental, featuring pre-release Android APIs and behavior changes with kinks that haven’t been worked out yet. As such, it isn’t recommended that you install Android Canary 2604 on your primary device. Those waiting to test this new release safely on an older Pixel, such as a Pixel 6 or Pixel 7 series device, can now do just that.
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Be warned, though, that manually installing the Android Canary 2604 build will lock you into the Canary release channel for OTA updates. The only way to return to the stable channel after switching to Canary is to flash a regular Android 16 build, which will require a complete data wipe.
Android Canary 2604 swaps the “No notifications” message in Android 17 Beta 3 for a new “You’re all caught up” greeting, adorned with a trophy icon. It also shrinks the app menus that open when their icons are long-pressed on the home screen. The initial menu is condensed with a “Shortcuts” button that adds more options, and that menu now offers an “Actions” button that reveals further features.
As a reminder, this isn’t a build you should install on devices you depend on. Google’s official Android Canary 2604 announcement post on Reddit reinforces that some of these features are actively in development, and are likely to come with bugs or issues that could affect your device’s usability.
The expanded rollout of Android Canary 2604 makes it easy for those that want to experience the newest features and changes on Pixel devices older than the Pixel 8 series. To install it, use the Android Flash Tool to flash the latest Android Canary build (noting the risks). After a successful install, subsequent Android Canary updates will arrive over the air.
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