After updating the stable channel with the January 2025 security patches for Pixels, Google has turned its attention to Android’s beta program with an update to what will eventually be released as the March 2025 Pixel Feature Drop. Android 15 Quarterly Platform Release 2 has now received a minor version update to squash some fairly major bugs.
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Google drops the first Pixel update of 2025 with a fix for themed icons
The January 2025 security patches are here
Google announced Android 15 QPR2 Beta 2.1 on Reddit today, highlighting fixes for a number of issues that were causing crashes, freezes, and restarts for some beta testers. The new version has a build number of BP11.241121.013, and it brings the January 2025 Android security patches, as well as their Pixel-specific counterparts, to everyone in the Android Beta Program.
In addition to the freezing and restarting fixes, the release notes for this version mention that an issue where Emoji Workshop settings would appear unexpectedly when choosing other wallpapers has been resolved. General system stability and connectivity has also been improved.
Android 15 QPR2 Beta 2.1 (January 2025)
This minor update to Android 15 QPR2 Beta 2 includes the following fixes:
- Fixed several issues that sometimes caused a device to freeze, crash, or restart unexpectedly. (
Issue #380500068
,
Issue #381894854
,
Issue #378856187
,
Issue #384447026
,
Issue #384885640
,
Issue #385056337
,
Issue #385126181
) - Fixed an issue where the Emoji Workshop options opened when selecting wallpapers from other categories in system settings. (
Issue #384629413
) - Fixed various other issues that were impacting system stability and connectivity.
All eligible devices enrolled in the
Android Beta for Pixel program
will be offered an over-the-air (OTA) update to Beta 2.1.
Rollout timeline and availability
This update is being made available for the Pixel 6 series, 6a, 7 series, 7a, 8 series, 8a, 9 series, Pixel Fold, and Pixel Tablet, provided those devices have been enrolled in the beta. Google says it may take up to 24 hours to reach all users, and you can install it by heading to Settings → System → Software updates → System update → Check for updates.
As seen on the stable channel, the January security patches fixed a number of Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) that were deemed to be of critical severity, including one that could allow attackers to remotely execute code on Pixels without access to the device (CVE-2024-53842). The stable update also included a fix for Google’s Material You themed icons looking washed out, to the delight of dark mode users.
Turns out Google’s themed icons were actually broken, but they’re fixed now
The January update looks so much better in dark mode
