Android 15 Beta 4.2 Comes to Pixel 9 Series

One of the oddities of the Pixel 9 series launch is that the timing required the first devices to ship with Android 14, and not the nearly complete Android 15. But if you bought a Pixel 9, 9 Pro, or 9 Pro XL, and are itching to get started with the next OS version, you can do so now: The latest (and potentially final) pre-release build of Android 15 is now available on those devices. (The Pixel 9 Pro Fold doesn’t ship until September.)

To get started, head over to the Android Beta for Pixel website and enroll your Pixel: If you have a Pixel 9 series device, it will appear in the list of eligible devices. Then, navigate to Settings > System > Software updates on your phone and check for updates if needed. The latest Android beta, Beta 4.2, will download and install.

Google released what it described as the final Android 15 Beta release, Beta 4, on July 18, but it has since issued two minor point releases, 4.1 and 4.2, since then. There are no functional changes, of course.

And if you do opt-in to the beta, you can exit when the first stable version of Android 15 is available. Just return to the Android Beta for Pixel website and opt-out the device. Then, it will be “upgraded” to the latest stable version of the OS, which should be the same build you were previously using, but in stable.

My guess is that the first stable version of Android 15 is just weeks away, so there’s no harm in waiting, of course.