Pixel feature drops now have beta support

Earlier this week, Google pushed its tenth quarterly feature drop for Pixel smartphones. As usual, the drop included new features and bug fixes. It also included an upgrade to Android 12L, which Google specifically designed to better cater to larger displays.

Today, though, Google is rolling out yet another Pixel feature drop — the June 2022 drop, to be precise. What’s that? Did you say it’s not June yet? That’s true, but this is a beta version of that drop. With little fanfare, Google confirmed today (h/t Android Police) that users within the Pixel beta program will now see beta versions of the quarterly drops.

In other words, folks within the beta program will gain access to feature drops much earlier than people in the stable channel. Presumably, Google is doing this to gain insight into how users react to features before rolling them out on a wider scale. We say ‘presumably’ there because Google didn’t make a blog post or any other announcement about this new program.

This Pixel feature drop works with the Pixel 6, too

The March 2022 feature drop rolled out to devices from the Pixel 3a up to the Pixel 5. Google no longer supports devices launched prior to the Pixel 3a and the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro release was delayed.

However, this beta of the June 2022 Pixel feature drop does work on Pixel 6 phones, assuming they are subscribed to the beta channel. That means you can get the June 2022 drop on your phone before getting the March 2022 drop, which sure is silly.

Google doesn’t lay out what’s coming to the June 2022 Pixel feature drop, so we’ll need to wait and see once it announces something. In the meantime, if you want to give it a shot on your Pixel 4 or newer device, you can check out Google’s page dedicated to the new launch.