Google released its final beta build of Android 12 last week and now XDA’s Mishaal Rahman shared an internal Google document which details the Android 12 source code will be published on Google’s Android Open Source Project (AOSP) on October 4.
The Android 12 stable update may be released on October 4, as that’s when Google plans to release to AOSP. This tentative release date was also mentioned by a 3PL. pic.twitter.com/PMN802gQj0
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) September 12, 2021
In the past years, the AOSP release date coincided with the stable release of new Android versions for Pixel phones and it’s more than likely this will be the case with Android 12. For reference, Android 11’s source code was published September 8, 2020, which was the same date Pixel phones got Android 11.
The availability of the operating system’s source code on AOSP is the green light for OEMs like Samsung, Motorola, OnePlus and Xiaomi to use Android 12’s code to bake their own Android12-based custom skins. This will kickstart the development of Android 12-based skins like OxygenOS 12 and OneUI 4.0. Do note that the AOSP release date is yet to be confirmed by Google officially and may be subject to change.