Android 13 sees Google continue with the concept of Quarterly Platform Releases and QPR1 is now rolling out to Pixel phones with the December security patch and Feature Drop.
Compared to last year (with version 12.1 for Android 12L), QPR1 is still just “Android 13” and coincides with the December Feature Drop.
QPR1 contains some user-facing changes, starting with the ability to remove the media player from the lockscreen. “Show media on lock screen” can be toggled off from Settings app > Sound & vibration > Media. (The double-line clock still gets minimized when music is playing.) Speaking of the media player, Android 13 QPR1 tweaks it so that the scrubber is now a pill instead of a circle that some thought looked like sperm.
In Quick Settings, Google has animated various tiles upon tap, while some icons have been refreshed. This touch of whimsy includes Bluetooth, Auto-rotate, Flashlight, Airplane mode, Do Not Disturb, Hotspot, Dark theme, and Night Light.
Unified Pixel Launcher search, which was pulled at the last second from the stable launch in August, is back. Live during the betas, it starts with the search field at the bottom of your homescreen matching the bar at the top of the app drawer. Entering a query there will bring up both web and phone content, including applications, app shortcuts, contacts, Play Store results, and screenshots.
In Settings, Android 13 QPR1 renames Display’s “Increase touch sensitivity” toggle to “Screen protector mode,” while there are small visual tweaks to “Screen saver” preferences, “Press & hold power button” menu. The combined Security & privacy page is also now live.
The Battery usage graph can now show data since your last full charge (up to 7 days).
After updating to the final consumer release of Android 13 QPR1 with the stable OTA, Pixel owners can opt-out of the Android Beta Program without a data wipe. Again, wait for that final OTA from QPR1 Beta 3.1 to the stable version before doing this on google.com/android/beta.
There are 44 security issues resolved in the Android 13 December patch dated 2022-12-01 and 36 for 2022-12-05.
The dedicated bulletin for Google devices lists 151 security fixes with a separate O2 UK build for the Pixel 6a, 7, and 7 Pro. There’s also a separate Pixel 4a build for Canada.
Today’s update is older than QPR1 Beta 3.1, and cannot be sideloaded today:
- Pixel 7 Pro: Android 13 — TQ1A.221205.011 — Factory Image — OTA
- TQ1A.221205.012 (O2 UK) — Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 7: Android 13 — TQ1A.221205.011 — Factory Image — OTA
- TQ1A.221205.012 (O2 UK) — Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 6a: Android 13 — TQ1A.221205.011 — Factory Image — OTA
- TQ1A.221205.012 (O2 UK) — Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 6 Pro: Android 13 — TQ1A.221205.011 — Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 6: Android 13 — TQ1A.221205.011 — Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 5a: Android 13 — TQ1A.221205.011 — Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 5: Android 13 — TQ1A.221205.011 — Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 4a 5G: Android 13 — TQ1A.221205.011 — Factory Image — OTA
- Pixel 4a: Android 13 — TQ1A.221205.011 — Factory Image — OTA
- TQ1A.221205.011.B1 (Canada) — Factory Image — OTA
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