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Google Could Have Updated the Pixel 3 To Android 13. It Just Didn't Want To. (androidpolice.com) 170

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
AndroidPolice reports: Google has confirmed to us that the Pixel 3 series has received its last update, marking the end of a three-year promise. But revisiting the 2018-era flagship, I still can't help but be disappointed that Google didn't try harder to keep it supported longer. Google may have met its marketing requirements, but as I've said before, it's hypocritical for a company committed to sustainability and customer security to leave old smartphones behind so quickly. Revisiting it for the last few days, the Pixel 3 is still a perfectly good phone that could have years of life left in it. And, according to everyone I've spoken to, there aren't any good technical reasons for it being left behind. Google just doesn't care.
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Google Could Have Updated the Pixel 3 To Android 13. It Just Didn't Want To. More

Google Could Have Updated the Pixel 3 To Android 13. It Just Didn't Want To.

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  • Haha (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 21, 2022 @11:20AM (#62288643)

    Laughs in iPhone 6S that’s running the latest iOS.

    • Yes, it is bit of pain, but it runs.

      My reserve phone is a 6s+ and things seem.. sluggish.
      I think it is because the 6s+ low memory. As they do not seem to be related to actual Cpu speed or similar.

    • Re:Haha (Score:5, Interesting)

      by fyngyrz ( 762201 ) on Monday February 21, 2022 @03:31PM (#62289725) Homepage Journal

      Laughs in iPhone 6S that’s running the latest iOS.

      Not laughing with older Mac Pro that isn't running the latest OS, because Apple refuses to support my 64GB memory, 4 TB of SSD drives, 4K monitor, 12 core, 24-thread Mac Pro.

      I'm sure it's because they can't afford to. /s

      It certainly isn't because the machine isn't capable of it.

      • For once, feeling your pain in the Windows world as 11 doesn't support my desktop equivalent laptop that beats most machines sold today. Makes you wonder what the world would be like without the "inflation" of planned obsolescence. Would we come up with more products to keep the manufacturing busy or would we just have less jobs?

  • I almost bought a Pixel (Score:5, Funny)

    by nospam007 ( 722110 ) * on Monday February 21, 2022 @11:22AM (#62288651)

    But I didn't want to.

  • good reasons... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Geoffrey.landis ( 926948 ) on Monday February 21, 2022 @11:23AM (#62288655) Homepage

    "there aren't any good technical reasons for it being left behind."

    There's a good reason, it's just not a good technical reason.

    The reason is, all those people with perfectly-good old phones won't be buying new phones. Where's the profit in giving people the option to not buy new stuff?

    • Data gobbling? Google shouldn't worry about hardware, it's a data gobbling company. They should allow us to update our older Pixel phones so that they can gobble more data from them. Unless their specs are not fancy enough to allow for, new, upgraded data gobbling of course!

    • Re:good reasons... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by hey! ( 33014 ) on Monday February 21, 2022 @11:53AM (#62288785) Homepage Journal

      You buy into planned obsolescence when you purchase a phone with a non-replaceable battery. Lithium ion batteries are a wear component that degrades with use and exposure to environmental extremes; building it into the product means that even if the manufacturer kept up software support, you'd still have to buy a new phone in 3-5 years because somewhere in that timeframe your battery life is going to take a nosedive.

      The reason that removeable batteries only persist at the lower tiers of the market is that those phones are aimed at purchasers looking for the best economic deal -- e.g. companies providing phones to employees. When you buy a flagship phone you're not paying $1000 for practicality.

      • The thing is currently batteries can be swapped and are being swapped. Even the "non replaceable" ones.

        Of course manufacturers want to stop that so look for such soon to be locked to the specific phone like newest iPhone screens.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by hey! ( 33014 )

          Sure, but it's a *repair* that's going to cost you at least $100 in labor, after which your phone is not guaranteed to be quite the same (e.g. you may no longer have the rated water ingress resistance). Some manufacturers will replace a battery for a fee -- Apple's fee is a very reasonable, but you have to be ready to be without your phone for up to five business days.

          • Yes, though with older phones the labor seems lower. I guess newer phones are.. designed to be harder to repair.

      • The last time I needed to replace the battery in a phone with a replaceable battery (phone was about two years old) I could purchase replacements only from shady sellers on eBay and Amazon whose batteries were only marginally better than the one I was replacing.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by flink ( 18449 )

          Li-ion batteries degrade just sitting on a shelf unused. The reality is that if a manufacturer stopped making the battery you need 5 years ago, even the new-in-box replacements you can find will be compromised.

          • It seems to me the batteries are longer-lived than they used to be. I nursed the Galaxy S3 phone for a long time because it had replaceable batteries, but they needed replacement often. (Admittedly some of these were Anker and other aftermarket batteries, with probably inferior longevity).

            But my S8 Active phone's battery still seems pretty good. I'm not sure how old my phone is, but the model was released 5 years ago.

            • I read somewhere that keeping the battery between 20% and 80% makes Li-on batteries last much longer. But you're probably true and newer batteries are just better.
              I use an app to measure charging and it reports my year-and-a-half Xiaomi phone still has around 90% of its original capacity. If it keeps an usable capacity for 4 or 5 years I'll be very happy
              • I have read that too, and try to avoid full charge and discharge somewhat, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if more recent phones do this automatically by having a larger safety margin built into what they report as 100% and 0%. On top of chemistry improvements in the batteries.

              • Yep that's generally regarded as true. I don't know to what degree but it's the reason electric cars have a buffer you can't use at all and even then will usually try to charge to 90% of the remaining capacity.

                Unfortunately with phones it used to be a problem. I got an app to watch the charge level too, but it can't stop the charging by itself, it's just an alarm. So if I usually plug it in overnight, well it's going to be sitting at 100% for like 8 hours. Same with discharging, if I'm outside when it gets

        • It's a tricky situation because the original manufacturers most of the time won't sell you official batteries. Some years ago, when many of their top models had removable batteries Samsung did sell them. Nowadays I don't think you can buy them if you're not some sort of "official" repair shop.
          Chinese knockoffs, as you say, are usually terrible. But there're a few (at least I found one) companies that make good quality spare batteries. As good as new original ones. In case you're interested one of them is N

      • Do they advertise the device as having a three year service life? No? Then "you are buying into planned obsolescence" is not an excuse.

      • That's not true at all, my Android phone is 4 years old and I still get a full days use out of it before it needs to be recharged. Most of my phones have had a 6 to 7 year lifespan, shortened due to obsolescence not battery life.

    • Re:good reasons... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by mindwhip ( 894744 ) on Monday February 21, 2022 @12:13PM (#62288885)

      The problem is in the current economic climate most people will be happy to continue using their existing perfectly good phone rather than parting with several hundred dollars buying a new one, even if it no longer is getting updates. Unless they drop it and break a screen they will just stick with what they have. I would guess that most probably won't even notice that they haven't got a monthly security update.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shanen ( 462549 )

      "This is the FP you were looking for."

      But almost lost deep in the discussion, though at least it got the favorable moderation it deserved. (As of this writing.)

      Too bad the only criterion that matters for "success" these days is money and lots of it. Not acceptable to accept a small but honest profit.

      Of course the google had to become EVIL. That's what the rules say now, as written by the mostly cheaply bribed politicians working for the best bribers and lobbyists. But it still makes me sad.

      Also less free. I

    • I honestly don't think this is it so much as they don't want to keep supporting the phones. It's not that they make a huge margin on new phones, it's that every official phone that's in their lineup in some way constrains the decisions that they can make with regards to the OS and the experience.

      You can actually see this most clearly with Apple and it's baffling support of the Series 3 Apple Watch. Developers hate it. It's under-powered, the display can't show colour complications (if I'm remembering right)

    • Yep. It's ridiculous. My home PC is 8 years old now. I'm planning to changing it this year but it still works. It was made in 2014 but it can run Windows 10 (and it'd certainly powerful enough to run Win 11. The only reason it can't it's due to security requeriments). Even when Windows 10 goes out of support I could still install Linux on it and keep using it for browsing and light tasks for many years.
      It's ridiculous perfectly good phone hardware is left behind just for economic reasons. Current smartphon

      • My PC is 10 years old (Ivy Bridge). A guy I know has Windows 11 running on a 17 year old Pentium D [imgur.com]. It's slow obviously but you've got the latest OS and security.

        So yeah it's silly that you can't get more than 3 years from Google. I think it mostly has to do with the monolithic and locked down nature of the software which needs to be tailored to whatever the vendors did with the hardware. Plus Qualcomm is probably being an asshole about drivers as always.

    • When they asked Google to explain why they did this a press flack gave this non-answer:

      In response to an email asking Google why it stopped supporting the Pixel 3, a Googles spokesperson said, "We find that three years of security and OS updates still provides users with a great experience for their device."

      If you think this is an actual answer to the question asked, you have been reading too much corporate marketing hype. It entirely avoids the question as to why it stopped supporting it and substituted a claim that "we think everyone should be happy with three years of support".

    • Yup, and that's why pretty much any Android device is massively overpriced. You'll get three years of running the current OS, and possibly some security updates after that, versus Apple out there supporting devices with new OS versions for 6+ years. Which is the better deal if you're buying a $1,000+ flagship phone?

    • Except google isn't a phone company, The Nexus/Pixel phone lines don't exist to just to make money they have a bigger goal in promoting Google Services. By not upgrading their existing handset's they are signaling to the handset manufacturers that 3-years life is what is expected of an Android phone, this is despite the fact that 3-year old flagship phones would still be very solid mid-range devices.

  • Cry me a river (Score:4, Informative)

    by Voyager529 ( 1363959 ) <voyager529.yahoo@com> on Monday February 21, 2022 @11:27AM (#62288681)

    So...by the writer's own admission, Google fulfilled its promised number of Android updates for the Pixel 3, and they're upset that Google didn't go the extra mile and give them an additional one.

    They provided what they sold you. Stay on version 11 like the majority of Android phone owners; there are more people on Android 9 than Android 12 so you've got plenty of company. Besides, Android 12 isn't exactly filled with compelling features.

    There are already third party Android 12 ROMs for the Pixel 3 on XDA; go flash one of them, or tough it out for another month for a few more choices to come on the scene that might be more to your liking or from a more trusted source....or go compile your own Android build; there are Youtube tutorials demonstrating how to compile from source if you are so terrified of custom ROMs.

    Go buy a Pixel 6 with its three years of updates.

    Do literally anything other than write an article indicating that a company didn't do more than they promised to do. You didn't pay them more than the asking price for the phone, so everyone got what was promised.

    • Re:Cry me a river (Score:5, Insightful)

      by luvirini ( 753157 ) on Monday February 21, 2022 @11:54AM (#62288797)

      I think it is not really about the "promised to do" it is more on.. why?

      As in:
      Why do they support their phones such a short time when they control both software and harware?
      Why does Google not attempt to reduce e-waste?
      Why do they offer so much shorter support times than Apple?

      I mean I understand why companies like Samsung want to support the minimum time: they make almost all their money from the handset sale and thus they want to sell you a handset as often as possible.

      But Google makes most of their money from the advertising, so they really should not worry if you run an older handset.

    • What 3 years of updates? google stopped making the Pixel 3 in March of 2020. That's not quite 2 years.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by GoTeam ( 5042081 )
      Maybe every phone sold should have an "updates guaranteed until this date:" sticker on them. That way the consumer can look at "update guarantee" dates side by side when trying to buy a new phone.
    • For me the point of getting updates is to get all of the security patches. I couldn't care less about new features. I just want the damn thing to be fully patched to the latest rev for security reasons.

  • Marketing, Plus Qualcomm? (Score:3)

    by mikeebbbd ( 3690969 ) on Monday February 21, 2022 @11:29AM (#62288697)

    Obviously, Google (like the rest) wants you to buy a new phone frequently. At a much higher price each time. Qualcomm likewise, since they need to sell more chips. The fact that they're generating vast quantities of e-waste is simply not an issue (for them). Of course, the old phone could probably run many future versions of Android, but it won't. The real problem is lack of security updates, which *could* continue even without paying the Qualcomm tax.

    Since most of the computers in the world are now powered by Google (Android), Google has set the standard for o/s support. Microsoft, unfortunately, has jumped on the bandwagon. That is going to hurt more than having to buy a new phone every 3 (or 4 or 5, for a few recent flagships) years.

    • Except that in the case of Google specifically, they make so much more money from the advertisements and play store, that the actual hand set price is not a big part.

      The other manufacturers like Samsung and the Chinese ones, definitely they want to sell you a new phone as often as possible.

  • Muh Apple... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by BytePusher ( 209961 )
    I know the Android Bruhs are coming here to complain about those of us who over-pay for iPhones, but this is the EXACT reason I switched. I had a Nexus 5 that became unusable after an OTA update at just around the 1 1/2 year mark of owning it and Google never fixed it. After that I switched to an Apple 6S, which functioned flawlessly for over four years into 2020 when I replaced it just so I could have a marginally better camera.
    • As someone who likes the Android OS more than iOS (and also the vast selection of phones than run Android) I'll say that's they only thing I envy about iPhones: The long support times they receive

  • Fairphone (Score:3, Interesting)

    by carmechanic314 ( 2580335 ) on Monday February 21, 2022 @11:37AM (#62288739)
    It seems Fairphone is the only manufacturer that keeps updating for much longer. Fairphones are since version 3 perfectly fine phones.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by necro81 ( 917438 )

      It seems Fairphone is the only manufacturer that keeps updating for much longer.

      Not at all true. Apple has generally made iOS updates available for phones going back at least 5 years. The latest release, iOS 15, is compatible with the iPhone 6S [google.com], which was first released in 2015. This is not new behavior from Apple; they've supported their phones much longer than the rest of the industry.

      For comparison, Fairphone 3 has only been out since 2019. The latest device, Fairphone 4 from 2021, they've only

      • If you look at Apple support it has not always been as long, basically they have increased the support period over time.

        They started with only a few years(I think only about 2 years? early on) and have now increased to an astonishing 7 years.

        That is a great progress, but it is something that has been a process for them, not a thing at start.

        So a 4 years from the first Fairphone is a good start as long as they keep on increasing it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Junta ( 36770 )

      Fairphone 3 doesn't even have Android 11. It is newer than the Pixel 3 by a *lot*, and is 2 Android revisions behind it. Fairphone is not keeping their devices up to date.

  • I hate iPhones, but begrudgingly considering one (Score:5, Informative)

    by gaiageek ( 1070870 ) on Monday February 21, 2022 @12:01PM (#62288823)
    I've been a loyal Android user since 2009. I'm no stranger to installing ROMs to extend the life of Android devices. However, a couple things have happened in the past few years:

    1. I've gotten tired of dealing with ROM tinkering: having to find the right ROM, making sure everything works as well as stock, no reception or battery life issues, etc.
    2. I've started using Google Pay, which adds another layer of problems any time I want to change ROMs, as well as raising the question of security and trust of the ROM itself since I'm entering in a bunch of my credit cards.

    This has pushed me to the point of saying "fuck it, I just want a device that's seamlessly kept up to date by the manufacturer". 3 years from product release still isn't enough. 5 years is the minimum acceptable length of support.

    At present this reduces available options to the Pixel 6, Samsung's 2021/2022 devices (not sure if all or just flagships), and iPhones. Factor in wanting a smaller device, and I begrudgingly realized... I have to consider an iPhone. I hate it.

    • Re:I hate iPhones, but begrudgingly considering on (Score:4, Insightful)

      by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Monday February 21, 2022 @12:38PM (#62289001)

      Honestly, why. I would understand if you use your phone for corporate secrets, but the reality is 99.9% of any mobile malware is targeted at getting users to install some app from some dodgy store. 99.9% of Android 13's features are pointlessly uncompelling (to the point where after receiving the update recently I honestly actually don't see what's changed in the OS and really I don't care enough to go and research it).

      For all the huff and puff about security on mobile platforms, if you stick to play store and well known pieces of software your risk profile is insanely small. There's very little reason not to continue to use an out of date phone at present.

      • Except that there are always the "no click" and similar attacks that happen occasionally. Thus visiting a page might get you in trouble if you do not have newest security(and even then, but in such situations at least not an old such attack)

        • Yes, I've heard about them in theory, and yet never actually heard of any notable target getting affected. And aside from one text message based no-click attack that I never actually heard of hitting anyone in the west, basically all this malware still does require the user to do something (often go to a website).

          It's a bit like Linux malware, it exists, but the risk profile is so incredibly low that I'm willing to be 99% of Linux users here on Slashdot don't have any antivirus package installed.

          If you use

      • the reality is 99.9% of any mobile malware is targeted at getting users to install some app from some dodgy store

        My concern is about the ROM itself being compromised. People who install user-created ROMs are putting a whole lot of trust in the ROM developers.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by GoTeam ( 5042081 )
          It sounds like you might like to tinker with your personal devices. If so, Apple will be a bad choice for you. If you just tinker with your Androids because you want some longer term stability, than Apple should be great for you. I tinker with my PCs but not my phone, so I've been happy with an iPhone for years. I tried an Apple computer for a while and didn't enjoy it.
          • No it sounds like he NEEDS to tinker with his device due to shortcomings. I do the same with my android devices, it is a fucking pain in the arse but necessary if you want to maintain older devices. I am not at the stage I would switch to Apple, but fuck me I can see it on the horizon if things don't change on the android side.

    • Re: I hate iPhones, but begrudgingly considering o (Score:4, Interesting)

      by getuid() ( 1305889 ) on Monday February 21, 2022 @12:54PM (#62289083)

      The problem is trust.

      I agree with everything you say and I actually had an iPhone in the shopping basket. Then I stumbled across GrapheneOS, ehich is made exclusively for the Pixel. But it offers privacy and security on a level I thought I'd never see from phone.

      I still have the Pixel 4a I bought 1.5 years ago, and I dread next year when Google will probably take it offline (GrapheneOS supports phones only as long as Google does). $300-ish every 3 years sounded like an acceptable deal, but Google hasn't released any "a" versions of its latest 5 and 6 series, so I'm wondering if I'm stuck with having to buy a flagship every 3 years if I truly want security and privacy. That'd suck. I think paying more than $300 for a phone is fundamentally wrong (yeah, I know, wrong millenium...), so this would be particularly painful.

      I could revive the iPhone idea when 4a support runs out - if it's going to be a flagship, it better last for 6-7 yesrs, right? But after GrapheneOS I'm afraid I'm spoiled for life.

    • Re:I hate iPhones, but begrudgingly considering on (Score:5, Insightful)

      by bradley13 ( 1118935 ) on Monday February 21, 2022 @01:33PM (#62289261) Homepage

      3 years from product release still isn't enough. 5 years is the minimum acceptable length of support.

      I disagree. Support should basically be indefinite. Good companies do this. Just as an example: Our home NAS is a QNAP we bought in 2009 or 2010. It still gets updates. QNAP may not have managed to sell me a new NAS in the past 12-13 years, but when I need a new one, I know what brand it will be. This is how you generate customer loyalty. Also free publicity from happy customers ;-)

      Seriously: what modern electronic device should only last five years? My gaming computer is older than that, and updates are no issue at all.

    • I've been looking at the Linux phones with questioning curiosity and hopefulness. I mean, a few of them even run Android apps in full sandboxes.
  • I really like my Pixel 3 - they got it right in terms of size and features. My wife got a Pixel 5 and it actually seems like a step down.
    • Yup, we've recently got Pixel 3's for my wife and 2 kids, they just seemed like the best value for the money. They're very good phones.

  • Alphabet would have killed off its Internet Search business years ago.
    I also think Alphabet would had killed off Android too except for the amount of money that brings in.

    Alphabet has little stomach for refining and maintaining technologies. They just like the exciting big release of the new innovative product, but have little stomach on actually allowing the product to grow and expand.

  • I just factory reset my Pixel 3aXL, and gave it to a friend of mine. I have a Pixel 4a, and the work wonderfully together. Anyone know another brand that has longer support?

  • I want to say something smart-ass, but let's be honest here. Both Android and iOS are pretty darn good/solid smartphone OS's. That's why they're essentially the ONLY two real choices left in the marketplace, when all the other attempts to make one died off.

    My question is, is there something in Android 13 that might not perform optimally with the Pixel 3's hardware? In Apple's case, that's really what drives the end of OS support for their phones, computers or tablets, more than just an arbitrary time-line

  • Uncompelling (Score:3)

    by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Monday February 21, 2022 @12:43PM (#62289023)

    What's the compelling need for an upgrade to the latest shiny OS? Honestly I've stopped caring about Android OS updates after version 5. That was about the last time a compelling must have feature was introduced, and even back then it was more an improvement in responsiveness rather than a feature per se.

    I get also the desire to have a secure device, but the reality is ... that's hardly compelling either. Nearly all Android related risks come from installing 3rd party software. Few attacks are actually carried out on the system and those which are aren't spread very wildly. Risk is a measure of likelihood and consequence. The likelihood of suffering due to an outdated mobile OS is incredibly low in the west, and generally our consequences are quite low as well.

    Corporate targets are more of a concern, as is anyone handling classified information ... on their phone. But by-n-large I see no compelling reason to give a shit about Google's poor upgrade policies.

  • ...we get whinging articles like this. Google stated publicly at the time the devices was unveiled that they only promised new Android versions for three years. You got what you paid (or overpaid) for. Apple customers with six-plus year old iPhones are still getting feature upgrades and will likely receive security updates for a couple years after they no longer run the current iOS.

    Anyone who pays anywhere close to a grand (or more) for a flagship Android phone with a useful lifespan of three years or less

  • I have a Nexus 6 last updated 10/2017 to 7.1.1. The phone just works.

    I would pay $50/year to get quarterly updates. Maybe lots of people would.

  • Love my Pixel 3XL. Google tried to get me to install Android 12 late last year but then announced there would be no more updates for 12. Yeah, we all know how wonderful the first few updates of a new version can be. Why would anyone want 12.0 without the promise for any updates? Now, I'm being nagged to update because it has been over 100 days but no. I'll stick with Android 11 until a Pixel 7 comes out and seems worth it. The Pixel 6 seems underwhelming.
  • these devices manufacturers should need to reclaim 100% of their products for safe disposal. I am very confident if we push for such regulations that our devices would not be so disposable. Same goes for appliances. Hell vape cartridges are the new cigarette butts and those fucking things have nickel, stainless steel, gold and copper in them.

  • Vote with your wallet in the first place because Google already got the money after which you mean nothing to them.

    Expecting Google not to be evil is like expecting water not to be wet. If waste reduction mattered IRL phone makers would be required to support their device OS including upgrades for a decade.

    It's easily affordable. Canonical supports all its PC versions for less than 200 million dollars a year which covers a wider device variety than the walled phone gardens.

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