PSA: Don't install Android 16 QPR2 Beta 3 update before disabling this feature

Update 17/10/25 – 09:26 am (IST): Multiple reports on Reddit suggest that the Android 16 QPR2 Beta 3 update has been pulled. Users are now seeing a message stating, “System up-to-date,” when checking for the update package. Google might have done this to fix the Desktop Mode bug before rereleasing the update.

Meanwhile, for those who have already installed the faulty update, one user highlighted another simple method to fix their phone stuck on a black screen following the update. Here are the steps, along with other details they shared:

1. Boot the phone.
2. Connect a USB-C keyboard and press Win+I or equivalent. This opens the settings menu.
3. Scroll down to developer options
4. Scroll down to “enable secondary display features”
5. Turn it off

Notably, the phone would restart randomly, forcing me to start again. This made the process take about an hour and a half! 🙃

Other things you could try if you can’t find the feature toggle is to try to enable wifi ADB access (as you can’t see the screen and have ADB connected on USB-C), or you could try disabling developer options entirely – however this is VERY RISKY as if it doesn’t reset the secondary display setting you may not be able to get back into the developer options menu.

I have now granted permission to my PC and will be taking any further steps I can find to ensure I have backup methods to get in were this to happen again. Hope this helps someone else out there!

Give this a shot and let us know if it helped you fix the problem on your Pixel.

Original article published on October 16, 2025, follows:

If you’re running the Android 16 QPR2 beta program on your Pixel, hold off on downloading Beta 3 until you’ve turned off Desktop Mode. Google just rolled out the third beta today, and there’s a nasty bug that’s causing SystemUI to crash when the experimental desktop feature is enabled.

The issue was also spotted by tech journalist Mishaal Rahman, who posted a warning on Reddit’s Android Beta community. Multiple Pixel users had already reported failed installations after attempting to install Beta 3 via OTA, with devices ranging from the Pixel 6a all the way to the brand-new Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro Fold being affected. Some users even experienced soft bricking, where their phones got stuck in a boot loop after the update failed.​

The fix is simple but easy to miss. Before updating, head to Settings > System > Developer options and disable “enable desktop experience features”. Once you’ve done that, the OTA update should install without any problems. Several users who initially faced installation failures confirmed they got Beta 3 working after turning off Desktop Mode.​

But what if you’ve already updated and your phone is stuck? There’s still hope. Rahman shared an ADB command that can rescue affected devices: adb shell settings put global override_desktop_experience_features 0.

This requires having USB debugging enabled before the issue occurred and getting shell access during the boot screen. For those without ADB access, Android should automatically revert to Beta 2 after a few failed boot attempts, giving you a chance to disable Desktop Mode and try again.​

One unfortunate caveat: you won’t be able to re-enable Desktop Mode after installing Beta 3. The feature remains broken in this release, so if you rely on it for testing or daily use, you might want to skip this beta entirely.

This is likely the final beta before the stable rollout, which will arrive as part of December’s Pixel Drop update. While Beta 3 doesn’t pack as many new features as the previous betas, it does include a bunch of bug fixes and a new security patch level.​

Nevertheless, the folks at 9to5Google have posted a neat video showing off most of the noticeable changes with the beta. You can check it out below: