Since the launch of Android 11, everyone was waiting for the new Android 12 to launch. Finally, Google has launched the Android 12 Developer Preview 1 for the Pixel smartphones. However, it won’t be a stable UI like the current one because it is still under testing. To be precise, Google Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 3a, Pixel 3a XL, Pixel 4, Pixel 4 XL, Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, and finally the Pixel 5 users can install Android 12. Like every year, Google has ditched one of the series which is out of support years, and this time it is the Google Pixel 2 series.
Make a note that please don’t install the same if your Pixel device is your primary smartphone. The reason why you can’t install it as OTA is that the same is not for consumers. The Developer Preview is for developers to port their apps to the upcoming version. You can wait for a few months for the Developer Preview to end, and then the beta will start. The beta can be used if you are using your device as a primary device. We have included the steps for installing the Android 12 Developer Preview on your smartphone.
Technique 1: To install Android 12 Developer Preview 1 on your Pixel device, sideload it via the Recovery and ADB
There are two different methods to install the first Developer Preview of the Android 12. One of them is sideloading it via the Recovery and ADB. It would be best if you guys choose to sideloaded the OTA package for your Google Pixel device from Recovery via the ADB. You guys don’t need to worry that you can install the same without unlocking your device’s bootloader. Follow the below-mentioned steps to install the same.
- For this, first, download the update file, which is in a .zip format on your PC. You can download the same from here.
- Once it is downloaded, move the file to the folder where ADB is located. For safety purposes, confirm that the .zip file has been downloaded fully.
- Before installing on your device, make sure that you have turned on the USB Debugging feature on your phone. If you don’t know how to enable it, then head to Settings and tap on About Phone, then finally tap on Build Number seven times to enable the feature. In some cases, you will be asked to enter your security lock.
- After this, navigate back to Settings and head to Developer Options, and then enable the USB Debugging feature.
Follow Steps Below
- Finally, connect your Google Pixel smartphone to your computer. Now, give authorization to the computer connection on your phone. For this, wait for a prompt that will come on your smartphone. It will be shown only if you are connecting your device with ADB on your PC the first time you are connecting your device.
- Now open your computer and then run the following command on the ADB window and press Enter: adb reboot recovery.
- After this, your device will restart to the Recovery mode.
- From the window on your phone, choose the option Apply update from ADB.
- Back to your PC, and then run the following command: ADB devices.
- Once you have entered that, it will return with a device serial number with the “sideload” next to its name. It indicates that your device has been connected to your PC in sideload mode.
- Then enter the following command in the command prompt: adb sideload “filename”.zip
- Do note that you have to replace the “filename” with the file you have downloaded above.
- It will start the installation process of the new update on your phone. If the installation has been completed, tap on Reboot system now on your device to boot into the new Android 12 Developer Preview.
Technique 2: You can flash the full Factory image via Fastboot (Not Recommended)
You can use this method if your Google Pixel device has an unlocked bootloader. For this, you need to flash the full factory image of the Android 12 Developer Preview 1 through Fastboot on your smartphone. We hope you guys remember that this process is done through a flash-all.bat script file included in the downloaded file. The downside of this is, it will wipe your device completely. However, you could retain your data by removing the -w wipe attribute from the script. To install via fastboot, follow the steps mentioned below.
- Ensure that you have downloaded the factory image, which is a .zip file on your PC from here. Like what we did above, ensure that it has been downloaded fully.
- Now extract the .zip file that you have downloaded.
- If you don’t want to lose your files, edit the flash-all.bat script file you find inside the .zip folder. For this, it can be done using a text editor, open the flash-all.bat script file. After this, see the -w flag and delete the same and save it. It will help you to skip the format function of your device. But it isn’t advised to do because formatting your device is essential if you are upgrading to a higher Android device.
- After this, copy all those files into your ADB folder.
- Enable USB debugging on your Pixel device. For this, refer to the steps which we have mentioned above.
Follow Steps Below
- Then, connect your device to your PC and give authorization to your computer connection on your phone. To provide, wait for the prompt to come up on your device.
- After this, take your PC and then open the command prompt and run the following command: adb reboot bootloader.
- After a few seconds, it will reboot your Google Pixel into the Fastboot mode.
- Just double-click on the flash-all.bat file to execute the function. It will install the Android 12 Developer Preview 1 on your device.
- In case if you are using Macbook, then run the command flash-all to install the same.
- What the command does is that it will execute the flash-all.sh script file on your Google Pixel device. After this, it will install the necessary things like bootloader, baseband firmware, and operating system.
- Wait for a few minutes for the installation to finish. After that, it will restart on its own.
These are two different steps by which you can install the Android 12 Developer Preview on your Google Pixel smartphone. Share the article with your friends who use the Pixel device. Comment if you want more articles like these.
Terry Ts 
Rudhra Nandu