If you’re such person who rely on your phone for work or school projects and communication, you’ll definitely want to consider staying put on Android 8.1. And why do I make that suggestion? Merely because the Android P Developer Preview is causing problems for some users and today we want to take you through what you need to know about Android P problems.
Google’s released an Android P beta ahead of the update’s official release for the Pixel, Pixel 2, and other devices in the third quarter of the year.
The company’s Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X aren’t included in beta testing and neither device will get Android P when it officially arrives.
Google’s Android P Developer Preview gives Pixel users, and devices from other OEMs like Sony, a chance to try the operating system’s new features ahead of the public release. The beta also will help Google squash bugs before the software ships out to millions of people around the world.
The Android P Developer Preview is exciting, but like most betas, it’s plagued with a variety of problems. Some of these issues are minor bugs, others are far more problematic.
If you’re thinking about trying the Android P update ahead of its official release, you should be familiar with these issues before you install. This way you won’t be caught off guard if and when something goes wrong.
If you’re already testing Android P on your device you should be keeping an eye out for problems and reporting what you see to Google so it can improve the final product.
In this guide we’ll take you through the current state of Android P problems, provide you with some potential fixes, show you where to find Android P feedback, show you how to report bugs, and tell you about what’s coming next for Android P users.
Android P Problems
The Android P Developer Preview testers are suffering from a variety of issues including bugs and various performance issues. Google’s highlighted several of these.
According to Google, system and app performance on Android P can be “periodically slow and janky” and devices “may become occasionally unresponsive.” The company says these issues might become more acute with prolonged use.
Google says Android P battery life “may be regressed in this early release for screen-on and screen-off use cases”. It also says some apps (including its own) may not function normally on the Developer Preview. This is precisely why some people should stay put on Android Oreo.
Other known Android P problems include:
Accessibility
- Users who depend on Accessibility Services—such as Talkback and Switch Access— may have challenges using this Android beta build, particularly the new system navigation, Overview, and the Launcher.
Performance and battery
- System and app performance is known to be periodically slow and janky, and devices may become occasionally unresponsive. These problems may become more acute with prolonged use.
- Battery life may be regressed in this release for screen-on and screen-off use cases.
System UI
- System navigation still experiences some jank and frozen states on Pixel devices.
- Intermittent stability issues in SurfaceControl when capturing a screenshot.
Connectivity
- Playback over Bluetooth may be unstable in some cases.
- Paired devices may be unable to change device volume.
- Devices cannot communicate with NFC readers.
Android Enterprise
- A device user is incorrectly prompted to add an account when enrolling (using QR code and zero-touch) factory reset protected devices. As a workaround, use the Back button to return to the welcome screen and repeat the process.
- The DISALLOW_CROSS_PROFILE_COPY_PASTE user restriction doesn’t prevent users copying data from work-profile apps in the QuickStep Recents panel. To work around this issue, also disable screen capture by calling setScreenCaptureDisabled().
Audio
- Bluetooth crashes if a Host Controller Interface (HCI) command times out.
Other
- Device cannot be factory reset. Workaround is to remove all Google accounts from the device first.
Android Studio, tools, and libraries
- Android Beta 1 emulator has various minor issues affecting stability, display, camera, and video.
We’ve also heard about Android P installation issues, lockups and freezes, sound problems, issues with fingerprint sensors, and various connectivity (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS) problems.
How to Report Android P Problems
If you do see an Android P problem on your device you’ll want to report the issue to Google . Your feedback will help the company identify and fix issues, and help add polish to the final release. There are a few different ways to send feedback about Android P.
- If you find an issue in the Android platform or APIs, NDK, Android runtime (ART), device hardware, or support libraries, you can send Google your feedback right here.
- If you discover an app that’s not working properly with Android P you’ll want to report your issue right here.
- And if you find an issue with a third-party SDK, you can report the issue here.
You can also track the status of Android P issues using the newly upgraded the Developer Preview issue tracker. This is the same tracker tool Google uses.
How to Fix Android P Problems
If you run into Android P issues you can’t rely on Google to fix your problems. Beta updates won’t come every week and the next release will probably bring its own collection of bugs.
If you decide to try Android P you’ll need to be extremely proactive when it comes to fixing issues. Fortunately, there are a ton of resources out there.
Our broad list of fixes for the most common Nexus Android issues is a great place to start if you’re struggling on the beta. We’ve also put together more specific guides to fixing Pixel and Pixel 2 issues.
Our guides will show you how to fix bad battery life, issues with Wi-Fi, problems with Bluetooth, random reboots, and many other issues.
If you’re unable to find a fix for your problem there, and there’s no guarantee you will, you’ll want to take a look at Google’s Pixel help forum. XDA’s Pixel and Pixel 2 forums are also excellent resources.
Where to Find Android P Feedback
I will say this once more, if you rely on your phone for work or school projects and communication, you’ll definitely want to consider staying put on Android 8.1.
There are some benefits to installing Android P right now, but many most users are better of on official software. Google will improve Android P over time so it might be worth it to wait a few more weeks for the third preview to arrive.
As we push away from the Android P release date, you’ll want to monitor feedback from Android P users. We’re seeing feedback emerge on social media sites like Twitter and YouTube. We’re also seeing feedback on Google’s Pixel Help Forums, XDA-Developers, and Android-centric forums like Android Central Forums.
Short-term feedback can be extremely useful, but you’ll also want to make sure you dig into long-term feedback from Android P users if you’re on the fence about installing the early software.
What’s Next
Google’s release an official Android P release timeline and it’ll be a few weeks before the company rolls out the third Developer Preview with bug fixes for some of these early issues.
Google will ramp things up later this year with two developer previews (three and four) set for June. The fourth Android P beta will be the first release candidate.
The fifth developer preview will arrive sometime in July or August followed by an official release in Q3.
Each of these previews will come with its own set of issues, but expect the later versions of Android P to be far more polished than these early builds.
