Recent update leads Pixel models to freeze and crash

Last week's Android 13 QPR3 Beta 3 update brought some misery to Pixel users who installed it. In fact, just speaking for myself, after installing the update on my Pixel 6 Pro, the phone has been freezing and apps have been crashing. At one point, the phone seemed like it would never turn off leaving it frozen on a particular app. I was already thinking about having to reactivate my iPhone 11 Pro Max while at the same time mentally going through a phone call with Google Support.

But luckily, the device finally went black allowing me to reboot it. But I have been receiving notifications about apps crashing, the System UI crashing, and in the middle of the night early Saturday morning, I could have sworn that the text on the screen had somehow been reduced in size even though a quick trip to the phone's display settings refuted that. And last night, a television show that I watch via Peacock almost every night (big fan!) looked a little off.

But this isn't just something that I've noticed. On Reddit, Pixel users subscribed to the QPR3 Beta are baffled. "Hello, is somebody else facing that issue that System UI frequently crashes and after a few crashes the whole phone freezes and becomes unresponsive?" asked Reddit user "SmXtrem". And the answer came from "rpjknoop" who wrote, "I had it twice yesterday, a full freeze. Did a bug report on it. Next to that lagging UI. Resetting did not help. After a power down, it did not happen again. But that has been 3 hours now."

While you do take the risk of installing unstable software when you join a Beta program, the QPR Betas are supposed to be less problematic than Android system Betas. Still, Reddit user "Ill-Willow2116" is having to deal with issues from QPR3 Beta 3 numerous times a day. "Yeah, mentioned it on a thread earlier. Whole phone locks up, and I can't even close it. Won't let me send a report either. It's a constant issue, happening at least 5 times per day."

In one Reddit post filled with irony, a Pixel 6 Pro user mentioned that his phone has been suffering all of these aforementioned issues since installing the QPR3 Beta 3 update. But when he tried to use the feedback app to submit a complaint, it froze.

If you have been noticing weird things happening to your Pixel handset since installing QPR3 Beta 3, join the club. By the way, the Beta 3 update leaves Pixel users on the March security update. What happened to the April security patch? By the way, the Pixel models eligible to take part in the QPR3 Beta include the Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a (5G), Pixel 5, Pixel 5a, Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro.

The QPR3 Beta program should end June 5th when the Pixel June Quarterly Feature Drop is released. Once that stable public build is installed on your device, you can exit the QPR3 Beta program without penalty.