Google Confirms Android O Beta Program Will Begin Soon

On Thursday, Google announced the end of its Android Nougat Beta Program, meaning there will be no more Android Nougat builds pushed out to devices with Stock Android. Instead, the company is gearing up for its next Android update — Android O.

"Thank you for your interest in the Android Beta Program! The beta for Android Nougat has concluded, and all devices that were opted in have been updated to the current public version," read the company's post on its Android Beta Program webpage.

"If you are still running a beta version of Nougat you may download the latest full OTA image for your device and sideload it. This will not wipe your device. We'll update this site when the Android O Beta Program begins."

Read: Android O Features: How To Download Google’s Developer Preview Software

The company is expected to launch the Android O Beta program this month. The shutdown of the Android Nougat Beta Program is significant since it marks the fact that Google has ceded its final version of Android Nougat to users and no more major software updates associated with the operating system will be available anymore.

Instead, users will need to wait for the next Android OS update — Android O, if their device is eligible for it. The company posted a video in March detailing Android O features on YouTube.

The video contained revelations on several new features of the new operating system:

Providing users ability to limit location data availability: In the current Android Nougat-based setup, an app can track your data indefinitely once it is granted the permission the first time. In Android O, apps will be able to track user data for a few hours at the maximum.

Autofill APIs: Android O will come with new autofill features, which will let you enter the username and password into apps more easily.

Picture-in-picture mode: This will let users multi-task better by minimizing tabs even when they are active. For example, if you have minimized a tab playing a YouTube video, the video will still be playing at the bottom of your screen.

Multi-display support: The new update will let users work on a device, even while it is mirrored to another one.

Prioritized Notifications: Notifications will now be available in order of priority, instead of being available in order of occurence.

Read: Android O: 5 New Features Revealed In Android Developers 'What's New' Video

Google is expected to launch the second Android O Developer Preview at Google I/O, which takes place May 17-19. The company is expected to launch at least two beta versions of the software before September, followed by the official OS update in October, alongside the Google Pixel 2.

Currently, what the ‘O’ stands for is not known. But based on Google's precedence of naming Android updates after desserts, the next Android update may well be called the Android Oreo.