The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20161203235041/https://developer.android.com/preview/download.html
Skip to content

Most visited

Recently visited

navigation

Test on a Device

To run and test your app on the new platform you need to set up an Android 7.1 Developer Preview runtime environment. You can do that in either of these ways:

  • Install Android 7.1 Preview on a supported hardware device, or
  • Set up an Android emulator running Android 7.1 Preview
  • Set up one or more cloud-based virtual devices with Android 7.1 Preview in Firebase Test Lab

If you want an environment for basic compatibility testing of your app on the new platform, all you need is your current APK and a hardware device, emulator, or virtual device. You don't necessarily need to update your full development environment to do basic testing.

If you want to modify your app to target Android 7.1 (API level 25) or use new Android 7.1 APIs, you need to set up a development environment that's updated to support Android 7.1. Set Up the Preview has details.

Set up a hardware device

The Android 7.1 Developer Preview offers system updates for a range of hardware devices that you can use for testing your app, from phones to tablets and TV.

If you have access to a supported device, you can update it to a Developer Preview milestone build in one of these ways:

  • Enroll the device in automatic OTA system updates through the Android Beta Program. Once enrolled, your device will receive regular over-the-air (OTA) updates of all milestone builds in the N Developer Preview. When the next version of Android is released, your device will automatically update to the final version. This approach is recommended because it lets you seamlessly transition from your current environment, through the various releases of the N Developer Preview, to the release version.
  • Download a Developer Preview system image and flash the device. OTA updates are not provided automatically for devices that you flash manually, but you can enroll those devices in Android Beta Program to get OTA updates. When the next version of Android is released, you can download the final device image from the factory images page.

Enroll the device in automatic OTA updates

If you have access to a supported device (see the list in the Downloads table), you can receive over-the-air updates to preview versions of Android by enrolling that device in the Android Beta Program. These updates are automatically downloaded and will update your device just like official system updates. When the next version of Android is released, the device will automatically update to the production version.

You can un-enroll a device at any time. The device will receive an OTA update to the most recent production version of Android available for that device (for example, Android 7.0 Nougat). The update requires a full device reset, so user data on the device will be removed. Make sure to back up important data before un-enrolling a device.

For more information and to enroll your device, see the Android Beta Program web site.

Note: Un-enrolling requires a full device reset. Back up important data first.

Flashing a device manually

At any time you can download the latest Developer Preview system image and manually flash it to your device. See the table below to download the system image for your test device. Manually flashing a device is useful if you need precise control over the test environment or need to reinstall frequently, such as for automated testing.

Installing a system image on a device removes all data from the device, so you should back up your data first.

After you back up your device data and download the system image below that matches your device, follow the instructions at developers.google.com/android to flash the image onto your device.

Manually flashed system images do not automatically receive OTA updates to later Developer Preview milestone builds or the final, production version. Make sure to keep your environment up-to-date and flash a new system image at each Developer Preview milestone.

If you decide you want to get OTA updates after manually flashing a device, all you need to do is enroll the device in the Android Beta Program. You can enroll the device at any time to receive the next Preview update over the air.

Device Download SHA-256 Checksum
Nexus 5X
"bullhead"
bullhead-npf26f-factory-0e9ab286.zip 0e9ab28685d4358c4cc16a2caad21d191c20e6aca139f0d37dcd31e8493430d2
Pixel C
"ryu"
ryu-npf26h-factory-caed9427.zip caed9427fd48801ab864d2d018348cca0d1c7e107de46661f4f464159dad6d0b
Nexus 9
"volantis"
volantis-npf26f-factory-c0591bf3.zip c0591bf34487166cc8b9e219de142699dd511a7220b566183fc5a19dfbd81839
Nexus 9 LTE
"volantisg"
volantisg-npf26f-factory-412bba4a.zip 412bba4af903a34911dc3d90475f56a09855118a604457012ee5a13cc8911d73

Uninstalling the Preview from a device

If you want to uninstall the preview from a device, you can do so in one of these ways:

  • Obtain a factory spec system image and then manually flash it to the device.
    • For Nexus devices and Pixel C devices, see the Factory Images for Nexus Devices page for downloads.
    • For other devices, please contact the device manufacturer directly. Alternatively, if the device is supported in the Android Beta Program, you can enroll the device in the program and then un-enroll it (see below).
  • Un-enroll the device from Android Beta Program. If the device is enrolled in the Android Beta Program, regardless of device, you can simply un-enroll it from the program.

    The device will receive an OTA update to the most recent production version of Android available for that device (for example, Android 7.0 Nougat). The update requires a full device reset, so user data on the device will be removed. Make sure to back up important data before un-enrolling a device.

Note: Uninstalling a Developer Preview system image prior to the end of the program requires a full device reset and removes all user data on the device.

Set up an emulator

To use the Android Emulator to run the Android 7.1 Preview, you need to download the Android 7.1 Preview SDK and create a virtual device for the emulator.

First, download the Android 7.1 Preview SDK as follows (if you already got it while setting up to develop for Android 7.1 Preview, you can skip this part):

  1. In Android Studio, open the Settings dialog (File > Settings on Windows/Linux, or Android Studio > Preferences on Mac). In the left pane, select Appearance & Behavior > System Settings > Android SDK.
  2. Click the SDK Platforms tab, and then check the Android 7.1 Preview checkbox.
  3. Click the SDK Tools tab, and then check the Android SDK Build Tools, Android SDK Platform-Tools, and Android SDK Tools checkboxes.
  4. Click OK and accept the license agreements for any packages to be installed.

You should now have Android SDK Build-Tools 25.0 0 rc1, Platform-Tools 24.0.0 rc1, and SDK Tools 25.0.9. If you do not update the SDK Tools to 25.0.9, then you won't be able to run the x86_64 system images for Android 7.1 Preview.

Now create a virtual device with the Android 7.1 Preview system image:

  1. Open the AVD Manager by selecting Tools > Android > AVD Manager.
  2. Click Create Virtual Device.
  3. Select a device such as Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, or Android TV, then click Next.
  4. Select the N system image (with the x86 ABI), then click Next. (Only x86 system images are currently supported with the Android Emulator for the Android 7.1 Preview Preview.)
  5. Complete the rest of the AVD configuration and click Finish.

You can now launch the Android Emulator with the Android 7.1 Preview AVD.

For the best experience in the Android Emulator, make sure you're using Android Studio 2.1 or higher, which supports Android Emulator 2.0 with much faster performance compared to the emulator in Android Studio 1.5.

For more information about creating virtual devices, see Managing Virtual Devices.

Test in the cloud with Firebase Test Lab

A quick and easy way to test your app on Android 7.1 Preview is to use Firebase Test Lab for Android. With Test Lab, you can test your app in the cloud, without using local hardware devices or emulators. Instead, you can run tests against your app on virtual devices in the cloud, using either an automated app crawler (Robo test), or instrumented tests specific to your app.

  • For basic compatibility and regression testing, Robo test is ideal -- it lets you simulate user actions and flows throughout your app, without requiring you to write or run instrumentation tests.
  • For more complex testing, you can upload your own instrumentation tests and run them as often as you want.

For both types of tests, Firebase Test Lab provides you with detailed reports on the issues it finds, including test logs, screenshots and videos.

For testing during the Developer Preview, Test Lab provides virtual devices running the latest build of Android 7.1 Preview. You can run tests as often as you need, at no cost, until the end of the Developer Preview in December. You can also run tests against other versions of Android on physical or virtual devices. For example, you can run compatibility tests on Android 7.0 and Android 7.1 Preview at the same time.

You can set up a Firebase Test Lab project and get started with Robo test with just a few clicks:

  1. Navigate to the Test Lab page in the Firebase console. You will be prompted to create a free Firebase account, if you don't have one already.
  2. Select Robo test, and then click Continue.
  3. Upload the version of your APK that you want to test, and then click Continue.
  4. On the Select dimensions page, in the Virtual Devices section, select devices that support API 25, which corresponds to the Android 7.1 Preview.
  5. Click Start Tests to start testing your app on one or more virtual devices.

If you want to go beyond Robo test, you can also run your existing instrumentation tests on Firebase Test Lab (see Run tests with Firebase Test Lab for Android). If you don't have any tests, consider creating some instrumentation tests for your app using the Espresso Test Recorder.

Until the Android 7.1 Preview evaluation period ends, you can test your app using virtual devices in Test Lab at no charge. To learn more about virtual devices, see Test Your App with Android Virtual Devices. To get support for Test Lab, see the Firebase Support page.

This site uses cookies to store your preferences for site-specific language and display options.

Hooray!

This class requires API level or higher

This doc is hidden because your selected API level for the documentation is . You can change the documentation API level with the selector above the left navigation.

For more information about specifying the API level your app requires, read Supporting Different Platform Versions.

Take a one-minute survey?
Help us improve Android tools and documentation.