Android 15 QPR2 Beta 3 is out.

Google has released the third beta of the second quarterly update (QPR2) for Android 15, which will be released in February / March 2025. List of fixed issues:

• Fixed issues that could cause a device to restart when making a phone call.
• Fixed an issue where trying to resume an app from the app overview would return to the home screen instead.
• Fixed issues where the language picker menu (accessed by long-pressing the spacebar) changed the window, which caused the IME to hide in apps that had set their softInputMode to STATE_ALWAYS_HIDDEN.
• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused a clicking sound in the background while recording video.
• Fixed an issue that caused wireless charging to stop functioning in some cases.
• Fixed an issue that could cause devices to crash after starting an exercise on a connected Wear OS device.
• Fixed an issue with null pointer exceptions that sometimes caused the system UI to crash.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Android Beta Feedback app to crash sometimes when submitting a bug report.
• Fixed various other issues that were impacting system stability, connectivity, and interactivity.

Build number: BP11.241121.013 → BP11.241210.004
Security Patch: January 2025

🔗 Factory images
🔗 OTA images
🔗 Sign up for the beta test for the over-the-air upgrade

*QPR — quarterly platform release

#Android15

😎 Google News | En

Android 16 will ignore app orientation restrictions on large-screen devices.

Until now, some app developers have relied on screen orientation restrictions, causing the app to simply not take up the entire screen area on large display devices.

Android 16 for apps with Target SDK 36 will ignore the attributes and APIs used to restrict the orientation and resizability of the app interface. This change only affects devices with large screens (i.e. dp > 600) such as foldables, tablets and desktop devices including Chromebooks.

Therefore, this change will not affect phones, flips and external screens of foldable devices. Also, this change does not apply to games.

Users will have the option to choose to use the default behavior set by the app, or ignore these restrictions.

In API 36 (Android 16), app developers can enable an attribute to avoid this system behavior and buy themselves time to adapt the UI, but this attribute will disappear in the next API 37.

🔗 Full article at Android Developers

#Android16

😎 Google News | En

🤖 Google has announced the first beta version of Android 16.

The company has announced the first of four planned public beta versions of Android 16. Signing up for the beta test for the over-the-air update is available for owners of Pixel 6 and newer. Once you upgrade to this version, you won't be able to leave the beta test without losing data until the release of Android 16.

New Features:
• New “Live Updates” — new class of notifications displayed in the status bar or on the lock screen. These notifications intended for important ongoing activities, like an incoming rideshare pickup, food delivery alert, navigation, and more.
• Support for Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec
• Predictive back gesture is now enabled by default for apps with Target SDK 36.
• Predictive back gesture now works for three-button navigation (while holding the back button).
• and other under-the-hood changes

🔗 More on Android Police

Build number: BP22.250103.008
Security patch: January 2025

🔗 Factory images
🔗 OTA images
🔗 Sign up for the beta test for the over-the-air upgrade

#Android16

😎 Google News | En

Android 16 Beta 1: New 'Contacts storage' settings page.

There is a new 'Contacts storage' page in system Settings / Apps. Here you will be able to choose where contacts will be saved and synchronized by default, to cloud storage and device or only device.

This option already existed in the Google Contacts app settings, and now it has appeared in the system settings.

#Android16

😎 Google News | En

Pixel Buds Pro 2 have received a firmware update.

The new firmware update version 3.144 adds “audio quality improvements” as well as the ability to customize the sounds produced by the charging case. Once the headphones are updated, a new “Case Sounds” page will appear under About Device / More Settings.

Here you will be able to enable or disable the sound when the headphones are properly placed in the charging case and other alerts such as start charging, low battery, successful pairing and errors.

You can manually check for headphone updates under About Device / More Settings / Firmware Update, or wait for them to update automatically while you're using them (you'll need to put the headphones back in the case for ~10 minutes to complete the update).

😎 Google News | En

February 2025 Android 15 security patch for Pixel devices has been released.

This update only applies to the Android 15 stable update channel. Security Patch updates for the betas are released in a separate update channel.

Fixed issues:

Audio
• Fix for issue with audio output in Android Auto under certain conditions*[Pixel 6, 6 Pro, 6a, 7, 7 Pro, 7a, 8, 8 Pro, 8a, Fold, Tablet, 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, 9 Pro Fold]

Bluetooth
• Fix for issue occasionally preventing connection with certain Bluetooth devices or accessories*[Pixel 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, 9 Pro Fold]

Build Number: AP4A.250205.002
Security Patch: February 2025

🔗 Android Security Bulletin — February 2025
🔗 Pixel Update Bulletin — February 2025

🔗 Factory Images
🔗 OTA-images

😎 Google News | En