Google Clears Up a Bit of Android 12 “June 2022 Feature Drop” Beta Confusion

Google dropped a surprise Android 12 Beta update on us yesterday that was labeled as both a “Quarterly Platform Release” and the “June 2022 Feature Drop.” The naming was slightly odd, since Google’s Pixel Feature Drops are often more app-focused with new features delivered through their own services, rather than as a part of an actual software update. Google has since clarified and tweaked some wording to help everyone better understand.

For those who grabbed yesterday’s beta, which was labeled as a beta for an upcoming build for June, you might have been looking for new features to test. You likely came up empty, because again, Feature Drops don’t typically involve Android-level changes and are instead features issued alongside Google’s monthly Pixel updates on a quarterly basis. Take a look at the recent March Pixel Feature Drop and you’ll see that all of the new features are really just items that can be delivered within app updates. The same applies for December’s Feature Drop.

What Google has done since first posting the Android 12 QPR3 Beta 1 build is try and distance the update from being a Feature Drop. For example, on the release notes page for the build, they removed “(June 2022 Feature Drop)” from next to the build. They also tweaked wording in their /r/android_beta post.

Yesterday:

A few days ago, we officially announced the release of Android 12L and the March Pixel Feature drop. Thank you again for all your feedback on the Android 12L beta that helped shape this release.

Today, the Android 12 beta continues with the next round of updates for our June feature drop starting with Beta 1. These are known as Quarterly Platform Releases (QPRs) and delivered to Google Pixel devices as part of Feature Drops. Beta 1 (S3B1.220218.004) includes improvements to functionality and user experience as well as the latest bug fixes, optimizations, and the March 2022 security patches.

Today:

A few days ago, we officially announced the release of Android 12L and the March Pixel Feature drop. Thank you again for all your feedback on the Android 12L beta that helped shape this release.

Today, the Android 12 beta continues with the next round of updates. These are known as Quarterly Platform Releases (QPRs) and delivered to Google Pixel devices as part of Feature Drops. Beta 1 (S3B1.220218.004) includes improvements to functionality and user experience as well as the latest bug fixes, optimizations, and the March 2022 security patches.

I know those are minor tweaks, but the point here is that this Android 12 Beta is a Quarterly Platform Release (QPR) as build (S3B1.220218.004). It is more than likely just a massive bug fixer like December and March’s updates were. Remember how long each of those updates’ changelogs were? (Here and here.) This early release is giving opportunities for you and I to test it for Google before they push it to stable in June.

Knowing that December’s update had a ton of issues that delayed it for over a month on the Pixel 6 and that March’s is also delayed for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, this is a big and important move for Google. They told us this type of beta testing was coming, and it technically started with the Android 12L update, but this is the first time they have been clearer about how this all works.

To recap, if you grabbed the Android 12 QBR3 Beta 1 (S3B1.220218.004) yesterday and were hoping to experience a bunch of Feature Drop-like new goodies, you might be disappointed. Instead, think of this as an early look at all of the bugs Google plans to squash by June’s monthly update. The Pixel Feature Drop stuff should show up when this goes stable.