Android Beta subreddit is only for Pixel, improves submission process

Abner Li | Jun 12 2023 - 4:15 am PT

As the Android 14 Beta continues, Google is tweaking the Android Beta subreddit feedback process so that submissions are required to specify the Android version and Pixel device.

This is being done through flairs like “Android 14 / Pixel 7a,” “Android 14 / Pixel 6 Pro,” “Android 14 / Pixel 5,” etc. Google says this is to “ensure that the Android Beta team can properly flag feedback accordingly!”

Meanwhile, yesterday’s announcement from the r/Android_Beta Mod Team includes the following note: “this subreddit will purely focus on the Android Beta for Google Pixel devices. If you have questions about the Android beta program for other OEMs (Samsung, Lenovo, etc.), please check out the links for the other participating OEMs here (https://developer.android.com/about/versions/14/devices).”

As such, the subreddit will remove questions about non-Pixel devices, which occasionally get posted.

Before r/android_beta, a Google+ community was used for announcements related to new releases. When that social network died, the Android team switched to Reddit. In the context of the ongoing turmoil over third-party clients and developers, it would be interesting if Google had to find another forum.

Possible options include making a new Android Beta “product” for support.google.com, though the community support aspect is a bit clunky. There’s also the solution used by googlenestcommunity.com, but that’s also not as streamlined and lightweight as Reddit. Of course, there’s the Android Issue Tracker, but that’s really meant for discussion like the current subreddit.