Android Beta Program will let you opt-out to final build without wiping your Pixel in the future

Abner Li | Mar 24 2022 - 1:58 pm PT

In releasing QPR3 Beta 1.1 for the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro today, Google also announced that it will soon give testers the ability to opt out of the Android Beta Program at the end of every cycle without having to wipe their device.

Earlier this month, those that tested Android 12L were not able to easily switch to the stable 12.1 release before being upgraded to QPR3. Officially, opting out of the Android Beta Program resulted in a data wipe of your device. (One workaround let you manually sideload 12.1 over 12L Beta 3 and then leave without loss of data. However, you had to do this before QPR3 Beta 1, an unexpected release, was installed.)

Many people complained about this and Google moving forward “will ensure that all beta devices receive each official stable release to the public so you can opt-out without a data wipe for a limited time until you apply the next beta update.” This will only be offered at the completion of a beta cycle, and it’s unclear how much time will be given before a new preview starts up.

That mirrors how Android 12 in October offered a “window of opportunity to unenroll without wiping your device” before the 12L Beta started that December. Google is now making that a permanent aspect of the Android Beta Program so that end-users do not have to continually test previews.

Google confirmed today that the stable public release for QPR3 will be in June with a Feature Drop. Once users receive the final version of QPR3, they can opt out from google.com/android/beta with no device wipe. This should have really been a given at the start of this month.