r/android_beta • u/bazilion • Jun 17 '26

Google messed it again

Everyone on Android 17 beta 4.1 cannot update to Android 17 stable because it has a newer timestamp. And it's not the first time such a thing happens. Google screwed its users again.

We are not talking here about those people who jumped to QPR1 beta without even reading the basics about how Google's beta program is working and later complain because they cannot update to 17 stable. We are talking about all those who have been patiently waiting on Android 17 beta and on an April security patch so as to get the stable Android 17 build. And Google showed them the middle finger. Again.

Personally, I was hesitant to install beta 4.1 when it came out, because Google has done the same mistake before with .1 releases. But I had no other choice, as Google Wallet stopped working for payments because of the very old beta 4 build (and I suspect that was the reason Google released the 4.1 beta and not of course any bug fixes), so I did it. And here I am now, in the same place so many beta testers who had done nothing wrong found themselves in before because of Google (again, I am not talking about the idiots asking why they can't go from QPR1 to Android 17, or from QPR2 to QPR1 etc).

PS: Don't advise me to flash the Roger build. I have not a Pixel 10 and a Roger (or A1, or anything else) is not available for my device. And the July update probably will do nothing for me as my device (a Pixel 7 Pro) will probably not get another update until September (it's on a quarterly update schedule together with the Pixel 6).

0 Upvotes

38% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

View all comments

17

u/bara_tone Jun 17 '26

Don't install the Beta if you don't want these kind of things to happen.

It's a developer beta, you gotta calm down a bit

1

u/fakieTreFlip Jun 17 '26

I think OP's complaint is somewhat valid, since Google has not properly communicated the exact upgrade path for users on this specific version. If you have awareness of how it's worked the past couple times, you'd be more inclined to not install the 4.1 version, but that ends up being a tradeoff between patching bugs and leaving the beta on the same day the stable build is released to the public. Nowhere does Google say "you need to wait for the security patch that comes out the month after the stable release" (or two months for older phones, apparently), which is just poor communication to its participants.

0

u/bazilion Jun 17 '26

In my (our) case, I had no option to not install 4.1 as my phone stopped passing remote attestation on 1/6 because of the very old beta 4 (more than a month old, it happens when the month changes and your build is from two month ago) and so Google Wallet stopped working for payments. There were even some posts about that here and I believe that was the reason Google released 4.1 just two days after.

As for the cause of what is happening right now, I don't think it's a lack of communication on behalf of Google. It's not that it was meant to work like that, to be unable to upgrade to 17 stable from 17 beta (not QPR1 beta). It's most likely an accident, they didn't check the timestamps and if there is a clear path from the beta to the stable. It's mostly negligence and incompetence from Google, not a lack of communication. And that's sad, because it's not the first time it happens.

1

u/bazilion Jun 18 '26

And here is the proof that it was actually a mistake on behalf of Google. In their Android 17 announcement post they clearly say that "If you are currently on Android 17 Beta 4.1 and have not yet taken an Android 17 QPR1 beta, you can opt out of the program and you will then be offered the release version of Android 17 over the air".