Earlier this month, Google pulled a fast one on us pretending it had scheduled a fifth Android 14 beta release all along, when last month it had heavily implied the fourth beta would be the last before the stable release. So we got Android 14 Beta 5.
Today, it’s Android 14 Beta 5.1 releasing, and as the mild increment implies, this one is all about fixing bugs. Hopefully the last bugs. Hopefully the final release isn’t far behind. We’re hoping, but we wouldn’t bet on anything right now, given how bumpy the Android 14 beta ride has been so far.
Four fixes are listed in the official changelog for this release, but more things could have been altered behind the scenes without a mention.
Here are the bugs that have been squashed: an issue that caused the system to stop detecting a SIM card if Fixed Dialing Number features were enabled; one that caused connectivity interruptions for devices with carriers using 5G standalone mode; one that displayed a blank home screen on some devices after unlocking; and finally, the “feather-styled” live wallpaper has been disabled temporarily, thus fixing a performance issue it was causing.
The live wallpaper in question will be re-enabled, Google promises, after the other underlying issues are fixed. So in Beta 5.2 then? We’ll have to wait and see.
If your eligible Pixel device is enrolled in the Android Beta program, you will receive this update over-the-air shortly. If you want to enroll your device, just go to this page. After the enrollment, you’ll get the latest build as an over-the-air update.
