After a brief pause following the launch of the stable version in August, the Android 13 beta has gone through a short pause, but Google today started pushing out Android 13 QPR1 Beta 1, an update that is now rolling out for the Pixel smartphones.
The update isn’t significant but shows off some of the new features in the upcoming Feature Drops for Pixel phones, which are quarterly updates to Pixel smartphones that bring a ton of features to the devices. The next update isn’t expected until December.
Esper’s senior technical editor Mishaal Rahman dug into the update and found a few new things. The update adds a new “Security Center,” unified security and privacy setting. According to Rahman, this feature is not live, but he was able to get it to work, indicating that the feature is ready to go.
He also pointed out that the update comes with a security patch for October, even though the September patch has only just rolled out.
Rahman also pointed out some new audio-related features. Spatial Audio and Bluetooth LE Audio appear to be in the update, although they don’t seem to be working reliably at the moment.
There’s also a feature called “Clear callin” that will make calls clearer by reducing background noise. However, there are some limitations to this feature as it does not work with Wi-Fi calls and only works on “most mobile networks”.
In addition, the update also reveals the Pixel tablet that Google teased earlier this year. While the company didn’t provide many details about the device, a new animation spotted in the beta seems to give us more clues about Google’s tablet plans.
The animation shows a tablet device charging on what appears to be a dock. In addition, a separate animation shows the Google Assistant logo when placed on the dock, suggesting that the Pixel tablet may serve as the rumored detachable Nest Hub device.
Other changes include additional eSIM support, a new animation for split-screen mode, a setting to show Pixel battery health, and the return of unified search.
In addition, developer Kuba Wojciechowski dug into the code and found information about a possible foldable device and a “higher-end tablet.
