Google Might Rollout Android N Preview To Non-Nexus Handsets

Google is reportedly mulling the idea of rolling out the Android N Preview update to non-Nexus handsets as well.

As it turns out, a Reddit user has ferreted out this information from the HTML source code of Android N Developer Preview website. Google has always released the beta builds of its major OS version to developers a couple of weeks before the final announcement.

The feedback helps the search giant in fixing critical bugs before rolling out to the general public. This is apparently done to avoid the infamous fragmentation issues surrounding Android.

This trend started in 2014, where the search giant rolled out Android L Preview to Nexus users. The same pattern continued in 2015 with Android M Developer Preview. In March, this year, Google rolled out the Android N Developer Preview as an OTA update to Nexus users.

Looking back, Google has never released beta builds to non-Nexus device users thus far. This is precisely because Nexus devices get OS updates from Google, instead of carriers or OEMs. This trend might change with the Android N.

In the discovered Android N page, the "What's New" section reportedly says the following: "More supported devices, including devices from OEM partners" will receive the update. But then, there is no further explanation available to ascertain exactly which parties fall under “OEM partners” in the aforesaid sentence.

Phone Arena, meanwhile, says Google might roll out the Android N Developer Preview to near-stock Android devices like the ones from Motorola. HTC, Samsung, LG and Xiaomi, on the other hand, use their own UI with loads of customization, and hence it’s unlikely that the search giant might involve such devices.

Therefore, it is safe to assume that, Motorola's Moto X series of devices might get the Android N Preview in the coming weeks. However, Google has not confirmed this report thus far.