It is a rather early move from Google as typically this begins a couple of months after the new update begins to roll out. However, Google has been pushing the update schedule year after year. This year, the Android O Developer’s Preview came out in March! Google testing Android P is quite surprising because an overwhelming majority of the smartphone users are yet to get the Android Nougat update, let alone the Android Oreo update.
Proof That Google is Testing Android P OS
As seen in the lines of code above, which are taken from the version_defaults.mk file, the platform version codename has now been updated to ‘P’, which was O in the past. The Target_Product=Marlin line means that this update is being tested on the Google Pixel smartphone. The target platform version too, has been updated from OPR1 to PPR1 – which indicates that this is indeed the Android P that is being tested.
The platform version in the Compatibility Test Suite has been changed from “8.0.0” to just “P” – this is another indicator that the development of the gen-next Android OS, Android P has already begun. What is noteworthy here is that Google has not named it Android 9.0 yet – however, this isn’t something new because usually the number comes out much later.
Moreover in one of the comments, a Google employee has replied to another Googler working on the project that ‘not sure if OMR1 is needed’ – this points at the fact that Google might not release an intermediary update between Android Oreo and Android P such as that of Android 8.1. This is not new because it has happened in the past, as Android Marshmallow never got a 6.1 update. Stay tuned with us for more details on Android P as they roll out! Source: XDA Developers
