Not long after the Pixel 2 range was announced, Google announced the Android 8.1 developer preview, and we’re almost at a final release today with the release of Developer Preview 2. Google says “Near-final system images for final testing” are available today for the latest Pixel and Nexus devices and come ahead of next month’s public launch.
Android 8.1 Oreo and API level 27 brings new features for developers, including a Neural networks API that allows for hardware acceleration of on-device machine learning. For Pixel 2 owners, DP2 specifically activates the Pixel Visual Core which was absent for last month’s preview. This version also features the November security patch.
There are also some other changes around wallpapers and safe browsing actions, a shared memory API and Android Wear gets some more, too. If you have a compatible device enrolled in the Android Beta Program, you’ll receive an update notification soon. If you’re too impatient to wait, here’s a list of the factory images and our guide on how to flash them:
- Nexus 5X — Factory Image
- Nexus 6P — Factory Image
- Pixel C — Factory Image
- Pixel — Factory Image
- Pixel XL — Factory Image
- Pixel 2 — Factory Image
- Pixel 2 XL — Factory Image
