Google will give Pixel users a chance to leave the Android beta program again in the future
Following complaints from Pixel owners, Google will tweak the Android Beta Program to ensure that users on the beta channel get a window of opportunity to switch to the stable build without having to wipe the data on their device. The mess started when Google rolled out theAndroid 12 QPR3 beta to Pixel usersenrolled in the program out of the blue, never offering them an OTA to thestable release of Android 12Lfollowing its beta test.
Android’s Beta Program allows Pixel owners to try out major upcoming releases of the OS and report any bugs and issues so that they are (hopefully) resolved in the public version. At the end of the testing cycle, Google usually rolls out a small update for testers that bumps their device to the final release and deregisters them from the program. This ensures that users on the beta build get a chance to jump to the stable channel without having to wipe their phones.
The situation turned messy when Google suddenly started testing Quarterly Platform Release (QPR) betas without warning. Pixel owners running Android 12L beta were automatically updated to the QPR3 beta, irrespective of whether they wanted to continue with the program. Going back to the stable build required a clean wipe since it was technically an older release. While there was away to jump out of the beta program without a clean wipe, it required users to ensure they had not already installed the Android 12 QPR3 beta.
In its announcement of the latestAndroid 12 QPR3 beta 1.1 patch for the Pixel 6 seriesonReddit, the team behind the program acknowledged the issue (via9to5Google). Going forward, the company will first push the official stable release to all beta testers, installing which will automatically remove them from the program — all without having to wipe the data on their device. This window will only be given to them for a “limited time” when a stable release drops and until the next beta is released. This is always how the program has worked until the first QPR dropped.
The final version of Android 12 QPR3 will arrive in June as a Feature Drop, which will be your next window of opportunity to jump out of the beta program.
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