You can get Android 12 in any of these ways:

If you have a supported Google Pixel device, you can check and update your Android version to receive Android 12 over the air.

In most cases, you don't need to do a full reset of your data to move to Android 12, but it’s recommended that you back up data before installing Android 12 on your device.

Android 12 OTAs and downloads are available for the following Google Pixel devices:

Alternatively, if you'd rather flash your device, we recommend using the Android Flash Tool.

If you need to flash your device manually for some other reason, you can get the Android 12 system image for your device on the Pixel downloads page. Read the general instructions for how to flash a system image to your device. This approach can be useful when you need more control over testing, such as for automated testing or regression testing.

Configuring an Android emulator to run Android 12 is a great solution for exploring new features and APIs and testing Android 12 behavior changes. Setting up an emulator is fast and convenient and allows you to emulate various screen sites and device characteristics.

You can set up an emulator from inside Android Studio by doing the following:

Install Android Studio Arctic Fox | 2020.3.1 or higher.

In Android Studio, click Tools > SDK Manager.

In the SDK Tools tab, select the latest version of Android Emulator, and click OK. This action installs the latest version if it isn't already installed.

In Android Studio, click Tools > AVD Manager, and follow the instructions to create a new Android Virtual Device (AVD).

Be sure to select a device definition for a supported Pixel device and a 64-bit Android 13 emulator system image. Note that 32-bit Android emulator system images are not supported in Android 12. If you don't already have an Android 12 system image installed that matches your device definition, click Download next to the Release Name to get it.

Return to the list of virtual devices in the AVD Manager, and then double-click your Android 12 virtual device to launch it.

Android Generic System Image (GSI) binaries are available to developers for app testing and validation purposes on supported Treble-compliant devices. You can use these images to address any compatibility issues with Android 12 as well as discover and report OS and framework issues.

See the GSI documentation for device requirements, flashing instructions, and information on choosing the right image type for your device. Once you're ready to download a GSI binary, see the Android 12 GSI section on the GSI releases page.

Android 12 for Android TV is provided through system images for the ADT-3 Developer Kit.

See Android 12 for TV to get started.

To learn about which changes might affect you, and to learn how to test these changes in your app, read the following topics:

To learn more about new APIs and features available in Android 12, read Android 12 features.