Android 12 QPR 3 beta 1 isn’t a soccer scoreline, but rather the next release of Android 12, following the recent launch of Android 12L on some Pixel devices earlier this month. If you’re a little confused, you’re not alone. There seems to be an alphabet soup of different Android 12 varieties to choose from right now, especially when it comes to beta and pre-release builds.
First, there is Android 12 itself, which was released last October and has been rolling out on various phones over the past few months.
There’s Android 12L, which was mainly introduced as an update for the larger screen, but was also recently rolled out to some Pixel phones as a “March feature drop”.
And now there’s new Android 12 QPR3, which is due for quarterly Platform Release 3 and is available for testing through the Android Beta Program ahead of its launch in June alongside the next Google Pixel “feature drop.”
However, in any of these cases, if you’re running Baseline Android 12 or 12L, or even the new Android 12 QPR 3 on System > About Phone – you’ll get “Android 12 ” able to see. Google doesn’t provide any details about the exact flavor of Android 12 you’ll be running.
What does all this mean?
(Image credit: Alex Dobie / Android Central)
The problem here is really not with the software itself but with the opacity of the branding around it. Judging by Google’s message, many might assume that Android 12L is only for tablets and foldables — a separate branch of Android for these devices, similar to the older tablet-exclusive Android 3.0 Honeycomb.
“QPR3” also refers to the existence of earlier quarterly platform releases – so if this latest beta build is actually the third QPR for Android 12 then what happened to the first two? And is this “QPR” a continuation of Android 12L or is it a separate offshoot of Android 12? From the branding, it is not at all clear.
Google (sorta) explains what’s going on in this statement on its official developer site:
“Following the stable release of Android 12 for AOSP, we continue to update the platform with fixes and improvements that are subsequently rolled out to supported devices. These releases are carried out quarterly through Quarterly Platform Releases (QPRs). Cadence, which is distributed to AOSP and to Google Pixel devices as part of feature drops.”
In the past, Google quietly worked on QPRs for previous Android versions such as Android 11, 10, and 9 without any public fanfare. (And before that, in older versions like Android Oreo, they were called maintenance releases – MRs – and weren’t tied to a quarterly schedule).
So QPRs are not new. But the fact that Google is publicly testing them Is Not a bad thing considering the relatively small state of the new – and probably early – Android 12 builds. Particularly on Google’s latest handsets, an embarrassing bunch of software flaws resulted in the first major software update for the Pixel 6 being rolled out in late 2021, leaving users on older builds with a different (though less serious) bug in the middle. Given. January 2022.
By publicly testing the third quarter platform release for Android 12 a few months before launch, Google will hope to avoid a repeat of that situation.
As far as Android 12’s excellent first and second quarter platform releases are concerned, it turns out they really do exist.
As Arizona’s Mishaal Rahman explains on Twitter, QPR1 was the big Android 12 bug-fix update that arrived in December – the one that eventually stalled on Pixel 6 phones due to outstanding bugs. The QPR2 was the recently launched Android 12L – which included several small updates to the phone along with the widely publicized tablet and foldable features.
(Image credit: Alex Dobie / Android Central)
There’s no fragmentation going on here – Android 12L has everything it already had in that December patch. And the QPR3 includes everything in Android 12L.
some unusual things Huh There’s something going on, though: First, Google is actually talking about QPRs now and letting Pixel owners test them out months before they’re released. And second, we have the anomaly of Android 12L with the addition of a second QPR to new tablets and foldables features and new APIs for developers.
a look at the past
(image credit: Android Central)
To make this stuff more enigmatic, let’s look at how Android releases were numbered before there were Ls and QPRs. Android had the same decimal version number as many other types of software.
The major Android versions are the ones that used to get the sweetly treated nickname – big annual Android releases with new user-facing features and new APIs for developers that let apps do new things. They usually arrive in late summer and with them is a new Nexus or Pixel phone – think Android 6.0, 7.0 or 8.0.
Then sometimes you’ll have point releases—like Android 5.1, 5.2, or 7.1. these were not vast Bargain in terms of new user-facing features, but they introduced new APIs for developers. The new API is meant to increase the version number by 0.1.
Finally, there were minor Android updates like Android 5.1.1 or 7.1.1 – usually small bug fix updates that changed a few things behind the scenes but didn’t offer anything in the big way as new APIs or full point releases. Used to do
If Google were still increasing the number of Android releases this way, things would have shaken up like this:
- basic Android 12 obviously, will Android 12.0,
- Then that first big December 2021 bug fix update, QPR1Would Android 12.0.1,
- Android 12LWith its new API for tablets and foldables, would Android 12.1,
- and then android 12 QPR3Which doesn’t include any new APIs that will eventually come along Android 12.1.1,
(Image credit: Alex Dobie / Android Central)
The older numbered releases give a better idea of ​​what’s going on behind the scenes, and how big of a deal each subsequent version is. But they also give the impression that, once with a point release, the original release is out of date. That’s not really the case, especially since we now have monthly Android security patches that come independently of whatever Android version you’re running on your device.
This is probably why you now see “Android 12” when you look at the version number on your phone’s “About” screen. Google doesn’t want you to be too stuck on anything other than the major, annual release of the OS you’re running. (And, of course, the date of the Android security patch).
With the arrival of the public beta for the Android QPR build, we’re moving to three software “channels” for Pixel phones. Like Google Chrome and Chrome OS, these offer varying levels of stability depending on how quickly you want to play around with new content.
- First, you have developer Preview Builds – Android 13 is currently in phase, where you can expect things to get broken quickly and potentially a lot. These require flashing manually, so they are aimed at tech-savvy users, engineers, and developers.
- in the middle, there is android beta program, aimed at a more general audience. it’s still technically releaseBut things like Google Pay and DRM still work, and you get to play with new Android features up to three months in advance.
- and then there are stable constructionWhich is what most Pixel phones will be running.
So what’s next for Android?
The new Android 12 QPR3 beta gives Android fans a chance to test out the next minor update to the OS ahead of launch with a June feature drop in a few months. This version is the successor to Android 12L, and will eventually be succeeded by Android 13. After launch, beta testing of Android 13 QPR1 is expected to begin in late 2022, followed by QPR2 in early 2023. This will probably be the new normal cadence for Android beta releases.
All of this should mean that future Android versions will be a lot more stable on the best Android phones of the day – especially compared to the early days of Android 12. By getting more eyes on the next QPR months ahead of launch, Google will also expect devices to never have to roll back a major software update, as it did with the QPR1 for the Pixel 6 back in December.
While the branding can be somewhat confusing, more beta testing means a more stable Android going forward.
