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If you choose to install Android 13 on your Pixel 6 handset, forget about downgrading back to Android 12. Why is that? Well, because of a bootloader update, at least that’s what it says on Google’s developer website.
Pixel 6 devices can’t downgrade to Android 12 following Android 13 installation
Google flat out said: “Warning: The Android 13 update for Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and the Pixel 6a contains a bootloader update that increments the anti-roll back version,” while adding: “ “After flashing an Android 13 build on these devices you will not be able to flash older Android 12 builds”.
Android 13 stable build started rolling out yesterday for Pixel phones. It seems like this policy only applies to the Pixel 6, 6 Pro, and 6a. In other words, all Google devices with the Google Tensor SoC.
Pixel phones without a Tensor SoC can still revert back to Android 12
Other Pixel phones that are receiving the update, such as the Pixel 5a 5G, and the Pixel 4a series, for example, will still be able to be revert back to Android 12.
So, think twice before updating. It’s not that you shouldn’t update, but perhaps you should wait a couple of days, to make sure there are no major bugs in Android 13 build Google released.
Another thing worth noting is that you can easily leave the Android 13 beta test group. Once you upgrade your phone to Android 13, visit Google’s beta website, and unenroll. You won’t lose any data as part of the process, you simply won’t be a beta tester any longer.
If you do decide to stay a part of it, though, you’ll get access to test builds of future Feature Drops for Android 13 before anyone else. So, it’s up to you. If you use your Pixel phones as a daily driver, staying with the stable build may not be a bad idea.
Now, if you’d like to read more about Android 13, Google’s brand new version of Android, click here. We talked about it at length.