Android 12 Beta 4.1: What’s new
According to the official release notes, some devices on Android 12 Beta 4 were stuck in a boot loop after restarting. The new update fixes that problem. Android 12 Bet 4.1 also fixes the issues of heads-up notifications not appearing for some users. It required users to swipe into the notification drawer to view those notifications. Not anymore though. Next up, we have a fix for the issue where volume controls weren’t working sometimes when casting. Some devices on Android 12 Beta 4 were also having issues with face unlocking. The feature did not work at all. Android 12 Beta 4.1 fixes that problem. Google further notes that the previous beta release prevented some users from granting the Nearby Devices permission to the Phone app in settings. As such, users were experiencing a crash loop with the Phone app when trying to make a call over Bluetooth. Fortunately, they can now grant the required permission. Open the app info page for the Phone app, go to Permissions » Nearby devices, and select Allow. Lastly, the release notes for Android 12 Beta 4.1 mentions a fix for that obnoxious issue where connecting to a VPN broke the internet connectivity entirely. The problem was quite widespread among Android 12 Beta 4 users, with the official issue tracker garnering over 500 stars over the past couple of weeks. VPN should now work smoothly.
Don’t expect a completely bug-free experience yet
It’s been months since Google started beta testing Android 12 among the public. We are now into the fourth iteration of the beta release. Most big issues have been quashed over time. Android 12 Beta 4 is quite stable but isn’t completely bug-free either. It’s beta software, after all. And while Beta 4.1 fixes several known issues, there remain quite a few of them. In its Beta 4.1 release notes, Google explicitly notes that the known issues list for Beta 4 applies to Beta 4.1 as well. So don’t expect a completely bug-free experience yet. The latest iteration of Android 12 beta is now rolling out to eligible Google Pixel users over the air (OTA). You can also manually install the latest beta build on your Pixel. Download links for the Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 3a, Pixel 3a XL, Pixel 4, Pixel 4 XL, Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, and Pixel 5 are available here.
