It’s like this: Once a year, a new Android version appears with a new version number. Four times a year there is a feature drop with many new features. And every month a smaller security patch is released, which primarily improves the security of pixel smartphones, sometimes also bringing various bug fixes. So far, it has been customary for Google to offer a beta phase exclusively for the major annual Android update.
Google has now revised the latter. Google is now also offering a beta phase for the quarterly feature drop (QPR). The first QPR beta version was released recently, which Pixel smartphone owners can download and install. Google seems to be implementing this plan now for the future. You have learned from the past.
Lastly, how do Feature Drops factor in? Pixel Feature Drops are quarterly updates like QPRs, but they encompass more than that. They generally bring an update to the platform + updates to GApps. Once a year the major OS update is even counted as a Pixel Feature Drop.
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) March 9, 2022
Android 12.1 was an exception
The new strategy could be because there was this extraordinary disaster with the December update for the Pixel 6 smartphones. Google is therefore well advised to offer a public beta program for all major updates in order to be able to rule out errors as early as possible for the final release. I guess that’s the new plan.
Android 12 QPR2 has just been released as the final update, unusually also as Android 12.1. However, this is an exception as far as the version number is concerned. Google has planned the QPR3 for the summer, before the next really big update will appear in the fall with Android 13.
For the owners of the Pixel phones, the new strategy allows you to use an almost permanent beta version of the next Android version. Just right for the early adopters who can’t wait anyway. And we benefit from a lower error rate because more people test the new firmware beforehand.