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With October now upon us, 2027 feels like it’s really starting to loom over us. We’re already looking out to next year for most of the big hardware launches on the horizon, and now software’s starting to catch up. Earlier this week, Google delivered its latest preview of the company’s big year-end Android update, with Android 17 QPR2 Beta 6.1. And with just hours left before the weekend, we’re getting our first taste of Android’s next major update beyond that.
Google just announced Android 17 QPR 3 Beta 1 for Pixel devices. Firmware is available for the Pixel 6a on up through the Pixel 11 series. Most devices will get build DP11.260918.006, while DP11.260918.005 is reserved for Pixel 11 family members.
So far, all we know to expect is the big list of bugfixes Google is sharing:
If this sounds like a grand time to get started playing around with Android Betas, you can register your Pixel handset with Google’s Android Beta for Pixel program. As always, securely back up your data before getting involved with an effort like that.
On the flip side, if you’re looking to leave the testing track and go back to stable Android, this is also your chance — just unenroll your device from the program and do not install today’s QPR3 Beta. Then when QPR2 goes stable as a future drop, you should be able to install without needing to bother with a data wipe.
We’ll start loading this up on our own handsets, and let you know about any interesting QPR3 changes we manage to spot. On first pass, we’re already seeing a few.
For one, here are some text strings that appear to reveal work towards letting connected gamepads control Android’s cursor like a mouse:
We’re also spotting a whole lot of new strings connected to phone unlock support. If we were the gambling type, we might bet on this being related to Googlebook connectivity:
Why Googlebook? Well, these illustrations we spotted are certainly evocative:
And if we keep looking, there are just more and more strings seemingly related to this forthcoming support:
We’ll keep at it, and share anything else we spot!
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