Last week, Google rolled out its smartphone’s December 2022 Pixel Drop update. It came with several new features, and Google has now started pushing Android 13 QPR (Quarterly Platform Release)2 Beta 1 for eligible Google Pixel smartphones. The QPR1 had received four updates before becoming stable. It comes with the firmware version T2B1.221118.006 and weighs 192MB. For those unaware of the QPR beta programme, it is an initiative by Google to fix the issues of Android 13.
It is eligible for smartphones such as Pixel 4a & 4a 5G, Pixel 5, Pixel 5a, Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, and Pixel 7 Pro. Google aims to launch the stable version by March 2023. The update includes feature drops, bug fixes, and performance improvements over the previous one. It will be rolling out as an OTA update for previously enrolled users. Those who wish to join should enrol in the programme to receive the update.
The update makes Health Connect a default app in Pixel smartphones. It also adds thicker padding for Pixel Launcher. The spatial audio settings have reappeared with the update. The Media player gets a fog effect on both the lock screen and the quick settings panel. Google asks its users to submit feedback through the Android Beta Feedback app. Here are the known issues of the update;
Known issues
Android Platform
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 the Home screen to become unresponsive.
Google Apps
After switching back to Normal video capture mode from Slow Motion mode in the Google Camera app, the app continues capturing slow-motion video if the capture speed was changed between the 1/8x and 1/4x while in Slow Motion mode.
As said, since it is rolling out as an Over the Air (OTA) update, it will take some time to reach your Pixel smartphone. One can also manually download the OTA update or factory image to update to Android 13 QPR2 Beta 1 update and install it manually.
