Way ahead of what everyone expected, Google debuted the first preview of Android TV 12 last week, along with versions for smartphones and tablets. Frustratingly, however, a flaw is preventing developers from updating the preview builds of Android 12 on ADT-3.
Android TV generally lags behind smartphones when it comes to major platform launches. For example, the new Chromecast with Google TV comes with Android 10, and Android 11 was never actually shipped to any retail Android TV device outside of Google’s own developer device. That’s why it was a surprise to see Android 12 made available to TVs so quickly, but it’s a big sign of the company’s commitment to the new Google TV platform.
The problem, however, is that many developers currently cannot access Android TV 12 on the ADT-3, the only device that currently supports updating the update.
Apparently, the latest version of Android 11 available for ADT-3 breaks the ability to allow OEM unlocking on the device. Hidden in the developer options, the OEM unlock button allows users to unlock a computer’s ADT-3 boot loader using adb / fastboot commands. Without that key turned on, the quick start unlock the command returns the error FAILED (remote: ‘unlock_ability is 0, cannot be unlocked’) and fails to unlock the bootloader of an ADT-3. The problem has already appeared in Google Issue Tracker.
In theory, developers with an ADT-3 that is on an older version of Android or that already has an unlocked bootloader he must being able to install the Android 12 views, but we can’t verify that, because, well, we can’t unlock the bootloader on our own ADT-3 unit.
Askey, the company that produces and sells ADT-3 to Google, confirmed the problem in an email, saying the company is working with Google on the matter. Currently, the company’s suggestion to get Android 12 on the ADT-3 is to wait for the release of the final version of Google. It is not ideal, obviously.
Google tells us that they are aware of the problem and are currently working on a fix.
More on Android TV:
FTC: We use affiliate links for cars that generate revenue. Most.
Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news: