Google just announced Android 12L, an OS upgrade meant for tablets, foldables, and Chromebooks. For years, Google had abandoned the tablet form-factor, but with the recent success of foldables, the Mountain View giant has finally put its act together. Thanks to the Android Studio emulator, you can try Android 12L on a Windows PC, Mac, or Chromebook right now. It does not offer great performance, but you can get a taste of how Android 12 will run on a larger screen. So if that interests you, follow our guide and learn how to install and use Android 12L on your PC, Mac, and Chromebook.
In this article, we have included the step-by-step process to install and try out Android 12L on your Windows PC, Mac, and Chromebook. Based on your OS, you can move to any section from the table below.
Install and Use Android 12L on Windows and MacInstall and Run Android 12L on Chromebook
Requirements to Use Android 12LSet Up Linux on Your ChromebookInstall Android 12L on Chromebook
Requirements to Use Android 12LSet Up Linux on Your ChromebookInstall Android 12L on Chromebook
Install and Use Android 12L on Windows and Mac
To experience Android 12L on Windows 10/ 11 or Mac, there’s only one requirement – Android Studio. You simply need to get the latest Canary version of Android Studio to try out the Android 12L emulator on your device. Follow the steps below to learn how it’s done:
After downloading the file, Windows users will have to extract the ZIP file and navigate to the “bin” folder. Then, you need to double-click “studio64.exe“. Mac users can drag Android Studio to the Applications folder.
Now, an Android Studio installer will open up. Keep everything as default and click on “Next“. During the setup, it will download some packages from the internet.
After the installation is done, click on “More Actions” and choose “Virtual Device Manager” on the Android Studio window.
Next, click on “Create Device” at the top-left corner.
On the next screen, move to the “Tablet” section under “Category” and choose “Pixel C” or “Nexus 9”. By the way, you can also choose the “Foldable” option from the “Phone” section.
Then, click on “Download” next to Sv2. For those wondering, Sv2 is the new Android 12L build that we need to test. The file size is around 1.4GB, so keep patience. It should take merely 5 minutes if you have a speedy internet connection. After that, click on “Finish”.
Coming back to the main Android Studio window, click the “Play” button under “Actions” for the Pixel C or Nexus 9 device we just created in the previous two steps.
That’s it. The Android 12L emulator will load on your Windows PC or Mac right away. You can then experience all of the new features and UI changes in Android 12L with ease.
Install and Run Android 12L on Chromebook
To run Android 12L on a Chromebook, your Chrome OS device first needs to meet some eligibility criteria. I have mentioned all the said requirements and steps in a lucid manner below. Follow the instructions step-by-step to get Android 12L running on your Chromebook.
You need a powerful Chromebook to use Android 12L, preferably one equipped with an Intel or AMD processor. If an ARM-based Mediatek or Snapdragon processor powers your Chrome OS device, you can’t test out Android 12L right now. In the future, Google might add support for these boards too.
Finally, you will need support for nested KVM to use the Android 12L emulator on your Chromebook.
First, you need to set up Linux on your Chromebook. You can follow our detailed guide to have Linux running on your Chrome OS device in no time. Make sure to allot more than 20GB of disk space to Linux.
After Linux installation, open the Terminal and run the below command to keep everything up to date.
If you get any errors along the lines of “not available” or “can’t connect”, run the below command. It will change the Buster repository to oldstable. This is one of the ongoing issues with Linux on Chromebook. After running this command, execute the above command, and this time, it will work without any issues.
Next, you need to install Java Development Kit (JDK) on Linux in your Chromebook. To do that, run the below command in the Terminal.
sudo apt -y install default-jdk libnss3
Install Android 12L on Chromebook
Next, go ahead and download the Canary build of Android Studio from the link here. It will be downloaded in DEB file format.
After that, open the Files app and move the DEB file to the Linux section.
Now, open the DEB file and install it right away. Keep in mind that the installation process will take some time, so please be patience.
Once the installation is complete, open Android Studio from the launcher. You will find it under the “Linux” folder.
Now, go through the on-screen setup instructions and keep everything as default. Click on “Next” and finish the setup. The installer will download some packages from the internet.
Once the installation is done, move to the Windows/ Mac section above and follow the instructions from step #4. From here on, the steps for Windows, Mac, and Chromebooks are the same.
