Google released the first Android 12 Developer Preview back in February, and since then, the company has been regularly rolling out new versions of the OS as part of its regular release schedule. Nearly a month ago, it announced Android 12 Beta 4, stating that the OS has reached Platform Stability. Now, it has released the final beta build, which is Android 12 Beta 5.
With Android 12 Beta 4 last month, Google had confirmed that the OS had reached Platform Stability. This is an important milestone in the release cycle as it indicates that all APIs and app-facing behaviors have been finalized and will not be changed in subsequent versions leading to general rollout. As such, Android 12 Beta 5 doesn't bring any new notable features to speak of.
Instead, Beta 5 is what is called a "release candidate" build that brings in optimizations and bug fixes. Google had already encouraged developers to release compatibility updates to their apps with Beta 4 to ensure that their apps work fine, and it is emphasizing the importance of this step even more with Beta 5. Developers have been told to complete their final compatibility testing with this release ahead of general rollout.
As mentioned before, this is final beta release, and Google has indicated that the general release is only a few weeks away. Developers who want to try out Android 12 Beta 5 can receive the over-the-air (OTA) update across the list of eligible devices here. You can also check out our handy and brief guide outlining the process here. If you don't own any of the eligible devices, you can set up the operating system on the Android Emulator.
