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I must be a block head but for the life of me I can't figure this out. I have a Pixel 4 phone I use for development testing. It's still on Google Fi. I bought it directly from Google. It's been off for several months. I'm trying to get the latest OS update and it says that the latest version of Android is 13 not 14. That's fine. *But* it says the version I have installed, from over a year ago, is the latest version of Android 13. Am I missing something? Forcing it to go out for the update refresh is returning that I have the latest version. Did Google Drop support for a 4 year old phone getting security updates? #Android #Google
in reply to Hank G ☑️

My Samsung phone says it's on Android version 13... snd the last security patch was October 1 - if that is helpful. You are probably missing some security updates.
in reply to Joyce Donahue

@Joyce Donahue It did seem like there was an update for this month. Meanwhile my phone tells me "Your system is up to date" while the Android Security Update timestamp is "October 5, 2022".
in reply to Hank G ☑️

The Pixel 4 topped out at Android 13, the Pixel 5 is the oldest Pixel that is officially support.

Source: Almost bought at 5 as it was the baseline line that took Android 14

in reply to CB

Right. I'm cool with that. My big concern is that the version of Android 13 I have is a year old and no matter what I do the phone thinks it has the latest version. From what I can tell Google is still supporting security patches on Android 13 and has done releases as late as last month.
in reply to Hank G ☑️

@cbdesu

https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705#zippy=%2Cpixel-a-g-pixel-pixel-a-g-pixel-a-pixel-xl-pixel

Link above says guaranteed OS/security updates for the Pixel 4 until October 2022.

I see online that Feb 2023 was the last security update available for the Pixel 4: https://9to5google.com/2023/02/06/pixel-4-final-update/

@CB
in reply to LCP

Wow that's a pathetically short support window. I do appreciate the link clarifying my issue though.
in reply to Hank G ☑️

@cbdesu

Yep.

iPhone 6S came out in 2015 and got iOS 15.8 last month - 9 years after release. Bonkers. (They do sometimes break jailbreaking though, which is annoying.)

Pixel 8/8 Pro is 7 years OS updates, which is good.

@CB
in reply to Hank G ☑️

At this point, I am not at all concerned with new features that may be baked into the new versions and would be happy with just the security and system stuff that gets updated with with the Play store. I have two devices and one is going to be a crapshoot of getting security updates going forward and that device #Oppo is less than two years old at this point. I already know that it will not get 14 and is forever on 13. The other is an 8 Pro so we shall see.
#Oppo
in reply to Hank G ☑️

I think one thing we can look at in the future especially with devices like a Pixel are a custom ROMs from GrapheneOS, CalyxOS, Lineage etc that can breathe new life into some devices.

#android #grapheneos #calyxos #googlepixel #lineageos

This entry was edited (7 months ago)
in reply to CB

@cbdesu The Pixel 8 (Pro) will get 7 years of software updates. Google announced this with the release of the Pixel 8 smartphones.
@CB
in reply to Hank G ☑️

Pixel 4 is end of life since October 2022 if I got it right. Pixel 4a and Pixel 5 are end of life in October/November 2023. That means no more security patches and OS updates.
@cbdesu
@CB
This entry was edited (7 months ago)
in reply to Ash Hobbs

I've played around with /e/os on a TeraCube 2e. I really wish that device had an even mediocre camera. I unfortunately use this for development so I want to keep stock Android on it. Ah well, I'll just never be able to connect it to a non-development network again.
in reply to Hank G ☑️

I don't understand your threat model. On the one side you don't accept a 1 year outdated pixel phone. On the other hand you play around with /e/ - a notoriously insecure system. @ashhobbit
Unknown parent

in reply to Hank G ☑️

Sadly Fairphone doesn't sell to the states. I still get regular updates for my Fairphone 3.