What you need to know
- Google is rolling out Android 17 QPR2 Beta 6 to Pixel testers, aiming to fix an assortment of crashes and unexpected reboots for a few phones.
- The Pixel 9 Pro Fold experienced an unexpected reboot, thanks to a third-party app issue when trying to open the camera’s viewfinder.
- QPR2 Beta 5 rolled out almost ten days ago; however, we are down the final stretch since Google achieved Platform Stability with this update.
Google continues to press ahead with its Android !7 QPR2 Beta with another update for Pixel users.
Over on the Android Beta subreddit, Google announced that it’s rolling out Android 17 QPR2 Beta 6 to Pixel testers. The company states all devices are synced up on build numbers, so all users will find vCP41.260831.007. Eligible phones include the Pixel 6a up to the Pixel 10 series (10a, too). There’s a handful of fixes arriving late this week, and one concerns a major Pixel 9 Pro Fold reboot problem.
This was a fairly prominent issue for Pixel testers in the QPR2 Beta. Several threads have appeared on the Issue Tracker, informing Google that their devices have experienced an “unexpected reboot.” Google states the issue would occur when “initializing the camera viewfinder in third-party applications.” The fix for this should hopefully alleviate any problems users have been experiencing.
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Elsewhere, QPR2 Beta 6 offers a fix for a severe “system kernel crash.” This problem also affected devices when a third-party app would “request simultaneous camera and microphone access” during biometric verification stages.
Clarity to the situation
- A visual regression causing letterboxed content to leak through the status bar during activity transitions
- The screensaver displays a blank screen while charging
- Locked applications could not be dismissed using swipe gestures in Recents
- An issue that caused device crashes, reboots, or hangs when scrolling
There are two things to note about Beta 6. One user reports that Google removed blurred notifications on the lock screen. This drew quick attention from Mishaal Rahman on Reddit, who clarified the situation, stating, “The product team temporarily reverted the lock screen blur effect from this recent beta release in order to fix some bugs.”
Other users note that their phones (Pixel 10 Pro XL, Pixel 7, Pixel 9) have received Kernel 6.12. Many note improved fluidity on their devices.
QPR2 Beta 5 rolled out almost ten days ago, and it seems Google is keen on getting these major fixes in as quickly as possible. A few additional Bluetooth fixes were included last week, following Android 17 QPR2’s “Platform Stability” achievement. We continue our trek down the final stretch toward a full release.