UntilAndroid 15arrives, Google’s beta program will focus on Quarterly Platform Release (QPR) versions, more commonly known as Pixel Feature Drops. Android 14 QPR2, or theMarch 2024 Feature Drop, has been put through the paces, and it appears that Google is satisfied with its stability, as that beta program has now ended and another one is just getting started.
Google announced Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1on Reddit today, and while most of the user-facing changes expected with the June Pixel Feature Drop aren’t active yet, the new version gives beta testers their first look at the new Circle to Search feature that rolled out to Pixel 8 users on the stable channel last week. The feature is still exclusive to the Pixel 8 series, but this update is being made available to all eligible devices enrolled in the beta program, starting with the Pixel 5a.
Google’s introducing a new Android gesture for its Circle to Search feature
Circle to Search leverages AI to find information about elements on your screen
Today’s update has a build number ofAP21.240119.009and a Play Services version of23.50.14.The Google Play System Update version is still listed as November 2023, likely an artifact of thebuggy January updatestill being unresolved, but the new firmware does include theFebruary security patchesthat were pushed to the stable channel earlier this week. Therelease notesare minimal and almost read like an apology for letting stable channel users get access to Circle to Search before beta testers:
Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1 resolves the following issue and also includes fixes for some issues that are not noted here.
So far, we’ve noticed that the update installs quickly, even though it clocks in at 237MB on the Pixel 6 and 301MB on the Pixel 8 Pro. It seems Google’s on-again, off-againapp optimization improvementsare back on with this version, after we had seen intermittent slow and speedy installation times throughout the QPR2 beta.
Mishaal Rahman’s usual Twitter thread doing a deep dive on changes discovered in the code from this versionis expected to come later todayas he works on individual articles covering some of the juicier features. We can’t spoil much, but it might be good to check the Android Police home page in an hour or so, in addition to other publications where Rahman contributes, like Android Central and Android Authority.
If you’d like to dig into the new version yourself, justenroll in the Android Beta Programand head toSettings → System → System updateon your Pixel to install it. Or if you’d rather use themanual method, Google has already published thefactory imagesandOTA files. Happy flashing!
Thanks:Eduardo and Moshe
