page.title=Test on a Device meta.tags="preview", "nexus","system image" page.tags="preview", "androidn" page.image=images/cards/card-n-downloads_2x.png @jd:body

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

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 or emulator. 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 N or use new Android N APIs, you need to set up a development environment that's updated to support Android N. Set Up to Develop for Android N has details.

Set up a hardware device

The N 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 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.

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 6.0 Marshmallow). 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. 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 / Checksums
Nexus 5X
"bullhead"
bullhead-npc56w-preview-d86c7559.tgz
MD5: d84b6c31a7754e505149594887b3481a
SHA-1: d86c7559c93724cca6af91040b012c48529f2c94
Nexus 6
"shamu"
shamu-npc56p-preview-54b13c67.tgz
MD5: af183638cf34e0eb944a1957d7696f60
SHA-1: 54b13c6703d369cc79a8fd8728fe4103c6343973
Nexus 6P
"angler"
angler-npc56w-preview-2834ca3c.tgz
MD5: fd5c74f256cf82262779513854869570
SHA-1: 2834ca3c425d7a61f5dfabb9d8dd108aec1ab58b
Nexus 9
"volantis"
volantis-npc56x-preview-5c323abd.tgz
MD5: 474a13915e22d683cab5cf59ed868157
SHA-1: 5c323abdec121b2f07fdabaa3d70d12106e450ad
Nexus 9G
"volantisg"
volantisg-npc56x-preview-41ae398c.tgz
MD5: 5a145a546a4a9f68c2b8e2624cf9832b
SHA-1: 41ae398c30536a2d96b04d61b9ef97a043bf59cf
Nexus Player
"fugu"
fugu-npc56r-preview-7027d5b6.tgz
MD5: f5d3d8f75836ccfe4c70e8162e498be4
SHA-1: 7027d5b662bceda4c80a91a0a14ef0e5a7ba795b
Pixel C
"ryu"
ryu-npc56p-preview-335a86a4.tgz
MD5: 4e21fb183bbbf467bee91598d587fd2e
SHA-1: 335a86a435ee51f18464de343ad2e071c38f0e92
General Mobile 4G (Android One)
"seed"
seed_l8150-npc56p-preview-82472ebc.tgz
MD5: 983e083bc7cd0c4a2d39d6ebaa20202a
SHA-1: 82472ebc9a6054a103f53cb400a1351913c95127

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:

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 N Preview, you need to download the Android N Preview SDK and create a virtual device for the emulator.

First, download the Android N Preview SDK as follows (if you already got it while setting up to develop for Android N, 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 panel, select Appearance & Behavior > System Settings > Android SDK.
  2. Click the SDK Platforms tab, then select the Android N Preview check box.
  3. Click the SDK Tools tab, then select the Android SDK Build Tools, Android SDK Platform-Tools, and Android SDK Tools check boxes.
  4. Click OK and accept the license agreements for any packages to be installed.

You should now have Android SDK Built-Tools 24.0 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 N.

Now create a virtual device with the Android N 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 N Preview.)
  5. Complete the rest of the AVD configuration and click Finish.

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

For the best experience in the Android Emulator, install Android Studio 2.1 Preview, which supports the Android Emulator 2.0 Beta with much faster performance compared to the Emulator in Android Studio 1.5.

Note: If you're currently using Android Studio 2.0 Beta, there's a known issue that prevents you from creating AVDs with the N Preview system images, so you currently need to use the Android Studio 2.1 preview to create AVDs.

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