Android 12 QPR3 Beta 3 breaking Pixel Launcher app search for some

Android 12 QPR3 Beta 3 was made available to beta testers earlier this month as the third and final build before moving on to stable. The release was reported to include a few bug fixes pertaining to a white line on the screen of Pixel 6 Pro devices, a crashing issue with the NHS COVID-19 app, and various call quality and connectivity issues.

However, it looks like the build actually introduced a bug that breaks the Pixel Launcher’s ability to search for apps, as reported by 9to5Google. This behavior is seen when swiping up and attempting to search for an app by name, with no results appearing unless there is already an app shortcut that matches that search. This issue is impacting devices on Android 12 QPR Beta 3 as well as some on the stable release of Android 12. A reboot of the device reportedly fixes the issue momentarily.

The Android 12 QPR3 beta program ends in June, which is when the final stable public QPR update is expected. Let’s hope that Google addresses this issue by then and delivers a stable release without this bug present. Many users use and depend on this functionality to keep a minimal amount of app shortcuts on their devices.

Featured Photo by Daniel Romero on Unsplash