Nokia 7 Plus Android P beta users hit with phone-breaking update

If you’ve signed up to be an Android P beta tester and are using a Nokia 7 Plus you might want to avoid the latest patch heading your way. According to multiple Nokia 7 Plus users, a new OTA update carrying the June 2018 security patch is bricking HMD Global’s mid-range phones by inadvertently downgrading them to Android 8.1 Oreo.

The first sign of trouble came from a Nokia forum user (via XDA-Developers) and the problem has since been documented by multiple others with Nokia 7 Plus devices running the Android P developer preview.

The update seems to be installing a full ROM of Android 8.1 Oreo which then makes the phone crash as apps struggle to contend with an incompatible OS or, in some cases, causes the phone to freeze and become completely unresponsive.

The only solution at the moment appears to be a full factory reset as the Android P rollback package is technically still a higher version than the one snuck in via the patch. A Nokia forum moderator has since acknowledged the issue, which suggests a proper fix will be in the works very soon.

While this accidental trojan horse-style Oreo rollback doesn’t exactly bode well for HMD Global’s first attempt at running a flagship Android developer preview program, the company, along with all the other OEMs with phones in the scheme, does warn testers that these are unstable builds that should only be installed at the users’ own risk.

We’ll keep an ear open for any word of a fix, but for now, be sure to let us know in the comments if you’ve encountered this bizarre problem.