Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3.1 arrives with last-minute fixes, including one for annoying theming bug

If you’re trying to stay on the bleeding edge of Android development, this November could not be a busier time for you. Android 16 DP1 made its preposterously early debut this week, and earlier in the month we got our first beta release of Android 15 QPR2. But that one’s not the only Android 15 update floating around, and QPR1 has been making the beta rounds ahead of going official as the next Pixel Drop. It’s been just about one month since we got our hands on Beta 3, and now Google’s following that up with a minor refresh.

We’re no stranger to Google coming out with some minor point releases to address lingering issues with its betas, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing more of today, with Google’s announcement of Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3.1. Here’s the complete changelog:

• Fixed an issue where tapping media controls closed the notification shade but didn’t open the app. (Issue #375447625)
• Fixed an issue where long pressing the device entry icon didn’t work when there were many notifications and the notification shelf was overlapping the lock icon. (Issue #369316295)
• Fixed an issue that prevented proper volume control for some Bluetooth devices. (Issue #376650439, Issue #373681731)
• Fixed an issue that caused the Material You, wallpaper-derived color options to be very similar. (Issue #378507373)
• Fixed an issue that caused the scrollbar in the system settings to be sized and styled inconsistently. (Issue #366278155)
• Fixed an issue that sometimes caused NFC payments to fail. (Issue #363914347)
• Fixed an issue where translations in Indonesian and Hebrew didn’t display correctly for apps that are targeting Android 14 (API level 34) or lower. (Issue #378200084)
• Fixed various other issues that were impacting system stability, camera, connectivity, localization, accessibility, and interactivity.

As you can see, none of these are super phone-breaking, but they’re also the sort of little bugs that you’re going to want to clean up ahead of a wide, public release — we don’t want anyone trying to pay for their holiday shopping only to have an NFC payment refuse to go through, right?

One of these bug fixes addresses something that was bothering us last month, when we noticed that wallpaper-based theming in Android 15 felt a little limited, and we kept seeing the same four color palettes over and over. Google finally marked that bug report as “fixed” on November 7 and posted that a fix would be headed out soon — today we see the fruits of those efforts.

If you’re already entered in Google’s Pixel beta program and were testing the earlier Android 15 QPR1 builds, you’ll be getting an OTA update to Beta 3.1 (presuming you haven’t already moved on to QPR2, anyway). But if you’ve been waiting until pretty much your last possible chance to get involved — well, that’s fine, too, and you can head on over to Google’s Android dev site to grab a factory image and get started. Just like past Android 15 test builds, this one’s available for Pixel 6 through Pixel 9 series, as well as the Pixel Tablet and Fold.