Android Q Beta 4: Dynamic system updates are live

Among the detailed changes made with Android Q Beta 4, Google has also allowed developers to have a fairly thorough technical overview. The feature, called Dynamic System Updates, allows you to temporarily run a different version of Android on your device.

With Android Oreo, Google introduced Project Treble, which allowed Android updates to run faster by separating parts of Android from specific OEM code and device. Part of the Treble project was to create generic system images (or GSIs) that are "purely Android" and can be flashed on almost any Treble-enabled device.

These GSI files are usually used to test new versions of Android. Google even provided brave GSI users to try in the second beta of Android Q, although most users reported experiencing major problems while testing them.

Last month at Google I / O, the company introduced a new experimental method of using these GSI, called Dynamic System Update. This dynamic system update allows Android Q devices to temporarily install a GSI, to try a newer version of Android on your device. With the release of Android Q Beta 4, spotted by XDA Mishaal Rahmanthese dynamic system updates are for developers who want to experiment with them.

I decided to try Dynamic System Updates on my device so you do not have to do it. The process is surprisingly simple (took less than 15 minutes), as long as you master the use of a command prompt. Once everything was said and done, I was informed that the dynamic update of the system was ready and that I could restart my device.

As you can see, the final experience once the dynamic update of the system started is quite tough. This is because the Android GSI Q's provided by Google are "purely Android" and so have no normal improvements to Android that benefit almost all devices. What you see here is pure PSBA.

For the moment, dynamic system updates must be provided by your OEM or Google, which means that they are not quite the right choice for a ROM experiment that experienced Android users could hope for. It is possible that this can be solved if you already have root.

Once you finish testing the Dynamic System Update, you can simply restart your device and it will return to normal. Developers will be able to more easily test their applications on the latest version of Android on a real device rather than on the emulator, without having to use an unstable version of Android every day.

Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more information: