Google was expected to have launched Android 14 by now with 5 September the likeliest release window. But with that having been and gone it now looks likely that we will have to wait a few more weeks instead.

Interestingly, it's now been said that Google's decision to delay the launch of Android 14 was made very late in the day - so late that even device OEMs like Samsung were expecting the launch to take place just like we were. As for when the new release date will be, all eyes have already started to turn to October's Pixel 8 launch event.

New software and a new phone or two

Google is set to hold a Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro launch event on 4 October and that's now being touted as the likely release date for Android 14.

Journalist Mishaal Rahman says that they've heard the source code for Android 14 has been delayed until next month. "OEMs are now being told that vulnerabilities detailed in the Android 14 Security Release Notes will be published on October 4, 2023, so that may be the new release date," they said via a post on X, the social network previously known as Twitter.

The move is an interesting one not least because Android 14 isn't a particularly big update in terms of new features and a revised look, so it's unclear what might have caused Google to go this route. The company doesn't normally time Google launches to coincide with new phone unveiling, although it's possible that will now become the norm. Apple does something similar, of course.

However, if that is to be the case Rahman suggests it wasn't always the plan. In a follow-up post, they say that Google didn't originally plan to launch Android 14 on the Pixel 8 launch date, so something clearly changed recently.

With the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro event now just weeks away, we can probably sit back and start to look forward to what's sure to give us some of the best phones of the year.