At the Google I/O 2018 Keynote, Google announced that it will be launching Android P beta on not just the Pixel smartphones but for ten others from different manufacturers. With this step, Google appears to be inviting more manufacturers, and eventually users closer to the Android P experience, but that’s not necessarily true.
However, like with earlier Android versions, is reserving some features to its latest devices. Thanks to various Redditors and Beebom’s own investigation, we discovered that some of the features of Android P beta (DP2) are limited to Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.
We were able to get our hands-on the Android P beta on Nokia 7 plus and there’s a build for the Mi MIX 2S and original Pixel builds as well, which helped us figure out the details that are missing from the Beta build for these phones.
The first clearly distinguishable element was the layout of the quick settings and the notification tray. Firstly, unlike the DP1 and DP2 on Pixel 2 devices on which has blue accents and buttons, the quick settings icons on non-Google devices come in the same teal color that was popularized by Google with Android Lollipop.
Secondly, the elements of the notifications tray lacked rounded corners and we can confirm this on the Nokia 7 plus and Mi MIX 2S.
In terms of other functionalities, we found several users report on the subreddit r/AndroidPreviews about being unable to copy text and images from the live previews of apps in the Recents / Overview page. To remind you, Google announced that as part of the new update, users will be able to copy text and images directly from the live preview windows of recent apps without having to switch to the app. Interestingly, this feature is not even available on first-gen Google Pixel smartphones.
Lastly, Adaptive Battery, which is hailed as one of the most interesting features of Android P beta, was also missing from the test updates we received.
Another feature which we wish was present on other devices eligible for Android P beta was the Pixel launcher. Although the Pixel launcher is exclusive to Pixel devices, it would have been a good move to include the launcher along with the beta preview. We have our fingers crossed and hope Google opens it up for global availability, just like the now-deprecated Google Now Launcher. In case, you still want the launcher, you can use this guide to install it on any device with Android P beta.
These are just some of the anomalies we could find in the few days that we have used the Android P beta on various phones.
Meanwhile, the fact that “Clear all” button is missing applies to all users including those who have the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL devices. But don’t worry as Google will include the feature in the next beta build.
We hope that along with promising a more coherent experience across devices from multiple brands, Google actually works towards paving way for parity in terms of features – at least the ones it so openly advertised – across devices. If all this is maintained while keeping the openness of Android, it will actually be a huge win for Google.
