If you have a Google Pixel smartphone, then today is the day that you'll be able to finally download Android 14. After months of developer previews and beta releases, you can now download the full release on the Google Pixel 4a (5G) and above. Android 14 is the latest version of the world's largest mobile operating system, polishing up features from last year's Android 13. This is just a summary article of some of the biggest changes, so be sure to check out everything that you need to know about Android 14 to learn about everything in depth.

What's new in Android 14?

Android 14 is definitely a smaller update than the likes of Android 12, but that's not a bad thing. It has a ton of little features that have been introduced that you can make use of and play with, not to mention numerous improvements to stability and bug fixes over last year's Android 13. There's a big focus on accessibility and security this time around, along with some features that will be coming exclusive to Pixel smartphones.

First and foremost, there are some big accessibility improvements, both for the hard of hearing and those with vision problems. You'll be able to pinch and zoom into anything on your screen, and new font scaling will ensure that larger font sizes won't break your apps. There's new hearing aid connectivity too, and a way to ensure that your device flashes to make you aware of notifications if you won't necessarily be able to hear them. Android 14 also has a monochromatic theme to make minimal colors look better.

When it comes to customization, there's a new updated customization picker so that you can switch between wallpapers and change elements of those wallpapers depending on what's going on in the world around you. For example, if the weather is going to get worse, the weather widget on your lock screen will become more prominent. In Android 14 on Google Pixel phones too, starting with the Pixel 8 Pro, you'll be able to use generative AI to make a cool new wallpaper.

Finally, Health Connect is built into Android 14 as a way to centrally store and share your health data between apps without sharing too much. Health Connect works by creating a singular SDK that health apps need to connect to rather than sharing that data with individually supported applications. Any app that supports Health Connect can understand data collected from any of the other apps that it opts into collecting, so long as those apps have been given permission to share and read data through the Health Connect API.

Finally, with security, Android 14 will encourage users to set a 6-digit PIN to protect their data, which will automatically unlock the phone when you type it in.

How to download Android 14

The following Google Pixel smartphones are getting Android 14.

• Google Pixel 4a 5G
• Google Pixel 5/5a 5G
• Google Pixel 6/6 Pro/6a
• Google Pixel 7/7 Pro/7a

If, for whatever reason, you don’t receive the update once it starts rolling out, or you don’t want to wait for Google’s rollout of the update, then you can manually install it. If you’ve unlocked the bootloader of your device, you can manually install the device OTA image or factory image, or use Google’s web-based Android Flash Tool to automate the process. In any case, download the Android 14 image for your device, and then you can install it too.

When will other devices get Android 14?

Google has said that devices from Samsung, iQOO, Nothing, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Sharp, Sony, Tecno, Vivo, and Xiaomi will get Android 14 later this year. Samsung and OnePlus both have Android 14 beta programs that are currently being updated, and OnePlus had previously committed to releasing Android 14 for the OnePlus 11 on September 25th, though Android 14 was then delayed.