Android 13 Quarterly Platform Released QPR2 Released Beta 2 Pixel phones

Google continues to make progress towards the release of the next Android 13 Quarterly Platform Release (QPR2) by releasing the second beta version for eligible Pixel phones. As we move into the first month of 2023, there has already been a flurry of activity in the Android world, with the release of the January 2023 security bulletin last week and a new set of Play system updates at the start of this week. Now, Google is following up with the release of QPR2 Beta 2 for select Pixel devices.

This update is available for the Pixel 4a and newer and is in the form of software version T2B2.221216.006. Similar to the previous beta release, this new build focuses primarily on providing bug fixes for issues that were identified in the previous version. It also includes the January 2023 security patch that was rolled out to stable channel users some time ago. Google has not announced any new features in this update, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that there aren’t any changes to be found in this latest iteration of Android 13’s QPR2 edition.

The full list of changes included in this update is as follows:

• A fix for an issue with the System UI that sometimes caused the Home screen to become unresponsive.
• A fix for an issue where, after switching back to Normal video capture mode from Slow Motion mode in the Google Camera app, the app continued capturing slow-motion video if the capture speed was changed between 1/8x and 1/4x while in Slow Motion mode.
• The update also bumps the Google Play services version from 22.39.10 to 22.41.13.

However, it’s important to note that Google is aware of three bugs related to the Android Platform that have been identified in this current build. If you’re not already enrolled in the beta program, it’s important to consider these shortcomings before updating:

• The list of Recent apps sometimes becomes unresponsive if the screen orientation is changed while the list is open.
• In some cases when entering and exiting Picture-in-picture (PiP) mode from an app after changing the screen orientation, the system Settings app crashes with a “Settings keeps stopping” message and then the system Settings app can’t be opened.
• An issue with the System UI can sometimes cause it to crash from a null pointer exception.

Pixel devices that are already enrolled in the Android 13 beta program will automatically receive an over-the-air incremental update to QPR2 Beta 2. Users who want to manually upgrade to the latest beta release can also download the full OTA or the factory image from the official link provided by Google. This is a great opportunity for early adopters and developers to test the latest Android version, however, it is still beta software, so it could be unstable and may have some bugs.