Just as we head into the weekend, Google drops Android 17 QPR3 Beta 1 for Pixel phones. They’ve addressed a ton of issues, so if you’re on the beta track, you’ll want to download this update as soon as possible.
Just in time for the weekend
While getting the latest updates is one of the biggest software perks of owning a Pixel device, it isn’t always the most enjoyable experience. Sure, you get to experience features that no other Android device from the competition has, but there’s always the chance that something could be wrong with the OS.
Case in point is the sheer number of big fixes included in Android 17 QPR3 Beta 1. There’s a massive list so we’ve taken it verbatin from the release notes and listed it down below.
- Audio output device cannot be switched while playing audio from apps without active media controls. (Issue #259180936)
- Apps crash when attempting to start a foreground service from a Quick Settings tile. (Issue #299506164)
- Application icons in the app menu display with excessive spacing. (Issue #316288379, Issue #300758716)
- App previews fail to display in the recent apps screen. (Issue #515091621)
- NFC service crashes with DeadObjectException and stops detecting tags after the initial scan on Android 16. (Issue #456078994)
- Device freezes and becomes unresponsive when unlocking with the fingerprint sensor. (Issue #490719716, Issue #514867650, Issue #523022829)
- Device crashes when selecting the require eyes to be open option in Face Unlock settings. (Issue #466618368, Issue #522677686)
- MediaPlayer crashes when handling non-ASCII audio attribute tags. (Issue #552043106)
- Applications freeze and trigger an Application Not Responding (ANR) error when launched. (Issue #484969809, Issue #475406236)
- Camera feed is rotated 90 degrees when using video calling apps on an external display in desktop mode. (Issue #432390710)
- User interface issues when navigating back to the home screen from an app. (Issue #566639975)
- Unexpected dot displayed on the Mobile Data icon in Quick Settings. (Issue #551150806)
- Front camera fails to function while screen recording is active. (Issue #523313834)
- Calling apps crash with ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException when handling calls immediately after device reboot. (Issue #409069722)
- eSIM profile cannot be enabled and silently reverts to off in Settings. (Issue #541436675)
- Excessive battery drain during idle when Flip to Shh is enabled. (Issue #560036427)
- Settings app crashes when opening battery settings. (Issue #554603197)
- Audio playback stops on active LHDC v5 Bluetooth devices when a second connected device disconnects. (Issue #554992287)
- com.android.phone crash loop and complete loss of cellular service when the modem reports unexpected SIM slot indices. (Issue #554049220)
- Wi-Fi fails to automatically reconnect during background wakes when hardware PNO scans fail or are unsupported. (Issue #551970385)
If you were experiencing any sort of hiccups with the Android 17 beta, you can be sure that it will be a lot smoother experience going forward. Naturally, there are still going to be bugs to look out for, so if you see anything strange be sure to report. The more reports, the less likely these things will appear in the public release.
We’ve seen countless times when bugs appear in the public release of Android and its related apps. And while some can be very minor, other times it can be disastrous. While we can probably name a dozen that we’ve seen over the past month reported across the internet, the most recent example of something like this is with Tap to Pay failing to activate.
Of course, if you want to give the beta a try, you can enroll with your compatible Pixel phone. As of now, the beta supports the Pixel 7 and newer, along with the Pixel 6a. Sadly, the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are no longer eligible.
