Android 14 QPR2 Beta 2 arrives with fixes for biometrics and battery stats

Summary

• Google is actively working on its next big release, Android 14 QPR2, and has released Beta 2 of this firmware with fixes for issues like incorrect battery usage information and crashing biometric prompts.
• The update has started rolling out but may take up to 24 hours to reach all users. If not manually updated, phones will automatically receive the update within five days if registered for the beta program.
• Users can check for the update in Settings or manually install the factory images or sideload the OTA to receive the update faster.

Google’s beta program for the December Pixel Feature Drop went so well that it started working on the March 2024 drop almost a full month ahead of last year’s schedule. That doesn’t mean the company is taking things easy with its next big release as we head into the holidays — in fact, it followed up on Android 14 QPR2 Beta 1 with a quick patch release just one week after the first version, and it’s already back again with a second major beta release today.

Google announced Android 14 QPR2 Beta 2 on Reddit today, and while we get a full version number bump, there aren’t a ton of changes listed in the release notes. The security patch level is December 2023, much like the latest stable build that began rolling out last week, and the version number is AP11.231117.006 on supported Google devices dating back to the Pixel 5a. The company highlights the following fixes in this build:

Android 14 QPR2 Beta 2 resolves the top issues that are described in the following list and includes fixes for some issues that are not noted here.

• Fixed an issue where battery usage information that was reported in system settings was sometimes incorrect. (Issue #312121998)
• Fixed an issue where the fingerprint icon on the lock screen would sometimes display before other information had loaded in always-on display mode. (Issue #311265905)
• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the biometric prompt to crash, causing it to be dismissed before a user could interact with it.
• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the Internet Quick Settings tile to indicate that there was no Wi-Fi connection, even when the device was connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Another change noted by Nail Sadykov in the Google News Telegram channel is that this version is using the official Material Design 3 switches in the Settings app rather than the custom-made toggles Google had been using as far back as Android 12. Meanwhile, Mishaal Rahman is digging into this release with a Twitter thread outlining the new features he’s found, and so far, the most interesting one is a new Share Wi-Fi button in the mini control panel that appears when you tap the Internet tile in Quick Settings.

Though the update has already started rolling out, Google says that it could take up to 24 hours to reach all users. However, the company notes that if you don’t manually apply the update, your phone will automatically be updated to this version within five days if it’s registered for the beta program.

You can check for the update by heading to Settings → System → Software updates → System update, or you can manually install the factory images or sideload the OTA if you don’t want to wait. As we noted previously, OTA updates install much faster thanks to improvements to the seamless updates system, but early reports indicate this version takes quite a while to optimize after installing. However, this could be a result of the sheer size of this particular update, which clocks in at as much as 480MB on some Pixels.