Some Google Pay users find the latest Android Q beta is not daily driver-ready the hard way

Google unveiled the latest preview version of Android Q at I/O 2019. The company also announced that it would be compatible with a total of 21 different devices, 15 of which are from OEMs besides the Mountain View giant. Therefore, it is potentially available to a larger pool of testers than normal. Tech correspondents have reported that they may be happy with some of its functions: for example, Dark Mode is reportedly up and running in full now.

However, those who have gotten into the habit of using their phones for regular daily transactions may have fewer reasons to be satisfied with it. An apparently growing number of Google Pay customers have reported that this version of Android (Q Beta 3) has completely broken their ability to use the app properly.

This is due to the fact that, despite the fact that the beta is the latest stock version of this OS direct from Google, it fails to pass CTS. This is the system of device authentication developed some time ago in order to keep functions such as payments in the Google ecosystem secure. Also known as SafetyNet, it does not recognize Q Beta 3 as a valid form of Android.

Therefore, the payment details used to set up a given Google Pay account will no longer work within the ROM. This is not the only issue with Q Beta 3 to date: it has been described as poorly implemented on the OnePlus 6 series thus far, and to be even worse on the Xiaomi Mi 9. As the installation of this ROM also wipes all user data, it seems the beta is best left to developers at this point.