To do this, head to Settings > System > Advanced > Developer Options.
Otherwise, if your phone has Android 7 (Nougat) or later, scroll down to About Phone, then find Build Number. For phones running Android 8 (Oreo), click System.
Step 1: Activate these three settings on your Android phone The Android Flash Tool works with all the major operating systems, including Linux, macOS, Chrome OS, and Windows 10, though browser compatibility may vary depending on your OS. Google says that you can use any browser that supports the WebUSB API, which is supported by Chrome as well as Microsoft Edge version 79 and later. What browser do I need to use to flash my phone? It’s possible that Google will broaden the list of devices supported by Android 12 in the upcoming beta, but for now, you’ll need one of those phones to get the software. The Android 12 developer preview is compatible with the Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 3A, Pixel 3A XL, Pixel 4, Pixel 4 XL, Pixel 4A, Pixel 4A 5G, and the Pixel 5. Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Is my phone compatible with Android 12? And depending on settings that you adjust in the Android Flash Tool, you might have to wipe all of the data from your phone. This is unfinished software, and installing it could lead to malfunctions with your device or to software that you usually use. The second note is just your standard disclaimer that you do this at your own risk. Just head to your system settings and fetch an update. In other words, you won’t need to flash your phone again when new builds of Android 12 are released.
First, once you flash your phone with the developer preview, your device will get all future developer preview and beta updates over the air.
There are a few important notes to make up here at the top. There are a few steps that you’ll need to do yourself before the new software can be installed, which we’ll walk you through below, but Google’s tool basically eliminates most of the hassle and complexity that makes it easy to mess up. Google’s Android Flash Tool is a web application that handles most of the steps of flashing for you. But Google itself makes this process much more streamlined. It can be a tricky process, and the steps differ slightly depending on what phone you have and what kind of computer you’re going to use to download the software.
You can try out the Android 12 developer preview software right now if you have a Pixel 3 or later, but it’s understandable if the idea of flashing your device to install the OS is intimidating. The instructional photos might include a mention of Android 11, but we’ve ensured the steps are still accurate.
Update February 18th, 2:10PM ET: Google released the first of its Android 12 developer previews, so we’ve updated the info in this post to be relevant if you want to install it on your phone.