Google is on a roll with its Android 13 beta program. On the heels of last month's Beta 3 launch — along with several mid-cycle patches to work out some surprise bugs — the company has returned with Beta 4. As the final release on Google's Android 13 timeline, this update is a release candidate version, representing the last round of testing before we get a stable launch later this summer.

As you might expect, Beta 4 is short on new changes. While Beta 3 reached platform stability, a release candidate takes things even further. Today's blog post mentions a number of fixes and optimizations ahead of a final launch, along with these specific patch notes:

Developer-reported issues

• Fixed an issue where on some devices, paired Bluetooth devices could be observed to rapidly connect and disconnect from the device.
• Fixed an issue where the Google Camera app occasionally crashed on Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro devices.

Other resolved issues

• Fixed an issue where, when a user checks for system updates by navigating to Settings > System > System update, the system incorrectly reported Android 12 as the device's Android version, even when the device was already successfully updated to an Android 13 build.
• Fixed an issue on Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro devices where the Now Playing page sometimes got stuck on Downloading song database.

Really, today's update is all about developers preparing their apps for the official launch of Android 13, which Google now says is set to happen in just a few weeks. That's much faster than last year's Android 12 launch, which didn't go live until the start of October — and didn't hit Pixel phones until a few weeks later. This year's update is a much smaller one, enhancing many of the features first introduced last year while placing a new emphasis on both privacy and security. Clearly, focusing on under-the-hood changes has allowed Android 13 to arrive faster than anticipated.

If you're feeling impatient, the OTA files are already up on Google's downloads site — a nice shift from last month's beta, where we were left waiting for hours into the afternoon. Any Pixel phone already enrolled in the program should receive an update later this afternoon. If you had yet to jump into the beta program, this is your final chance before Android 13 ships sometime next month. If you're curious to see what all the hype is about, it might be worth jumping in — otherwise, there are only a few short weeks to go before this year's big upgrade is ready for everyone.