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Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

androidcentral.com

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Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#111

Post by xethos »

hysan wrote: post #73
j1elo wrote: post #51

I'm (we all are) constantly reminded to update our phones to latest available updates, but sh*t like this is what teaches users to instead disable and ignore updates indefinitely, under the premise of "if it works don't touch it" (addendum: "... because most probably an update will break it") And here I am, ignoring updates on my Pixel 6a since October 2024 (there were reports of crashes or bricking, what a surprise)…

I was visiting my parents for the holidays and came across this exact mindset. I usually push them to update for security, but I learned that they stopped doing that this year. Apparently some update broke/removed/changed an accessibility feature on their phone in a way that I couldn’t figure out how to revert. My mom had updated her phone first so only she was affected. My dad now refuses to update his phone and bot…

Frankly, even the scarequotes around break feel misplaced. Your Mom can't use the device like she wants to. An accessibility feature is gone to the point you can't get it back. That feels pretty broken to me.

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#112

Post by snovymgodym »

chabad360 wrote: post #57

Speaking as a Pixel 4a customer with this update: I received the update, and like everyone else, my phone battery started draining incredibly quickly. However, after getting the free battery replacement, my phone's battery has returned to draining as normal (and on the plus side, has somewhat renewed the life of this phone).

I'm glad it worked out for you.

The problem is, the Pixel 4a is not designed to have the battery be swapped and it's common to break screens and other parts of the phone in the process. You can look up what's involved and it's no surprise that this is the case.

It's basically a nice little case of hardware and software anti-consumer policies working together to break people's devices and force them to consume more.

Without legislation nothing will change.

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#113

Post by gertlex »

sifar wrote: post #47
gertlex wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the sense that it was a perfectly good phone, and still works with e.g. various bank apps or whatever... and I got tired of jail-break/customization stuff of smart devices about a decade ago... the extra work to wipe everything and explore a new world of things that might turn out to be broken isn't what I'd consider a reasonable option. :/

I use GrapheneOS on my pixel 4a ever since I got it a few years ago. Installation is straightforward and it is a best of both worlds - you can install and run android apps from the playstore in a sandbox.

I have three... I should try this... but so many other projects :'(

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#114

Post by sidewndr46 »

rincebrain wrote: post #108
kevincox wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it isn't this simple, because you wouldn't need a single "maintaining" branch. You would need one for each feature release that the user may stop at. So if you release the feature branch every 3 months after a few years you will have a dozen maintaining branches to backport fixes to, and in which to carefully test that the fix actually works. The problem is linearly worse if you release the feature branch more of…

This was, I believe, the problem that Microsoft wanted to resolve with their gradual burndown of WSUS - a lot of shops (including one I used to work at) would selectively roll out updates based on whether they thought they were relevant, resulting in an explosion of configurations that Microsoft had absolutely never tested against, and naturally, a lot of breakage.

This doesn't really jive with reality as Windows is plenty buggy in the presence or absence of the latest updates. Microsoft has slowly eliminated end user controls over updates because it would interfere with their ability to monetize their customer base. You can't really push a telemetry update, if updates aren't being applied.

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#115

Post by sidewndr46 »

TonyTrapp wrote: post #65
OsrsNeedsf2P wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google 4a user here. They pushed an update while I was on a ski trip in Korea - I updated an hour before getting on my bus and.. the application launcher started crashing on unlock. I couldn't open any apps. Thankfully, I was able to get into the settings and switch to Lawnchair without a working "desktop UI", but without a second application launcher I would have been totally screwed. I checked the Play Store afterw…

Stuff like this is why I keep printing entrance tickets and the like. I don't want to end up in a situation where I have to trust software that is known to have new bugs every months to get into a place without any sort of backup.

This works until you start attending events that require you to present your cell phone for entrance

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#116

Post by NotPractical »

wobfan wrote: post #60

There's a nice video about this from Louis Rossmann [1] that talks about this in detail and tries to find some reasons for it, and he seems to suggest that the update was never about improving the battery life as in getting more usage per charge out of the battery, but improving it as in limiting the battery full charge capacity to minimize potential problems with it, because he (and others) assume that they identifi…

If you prefer reading over watching (thanks @MaximilianEmel): https://wiki.rossmanngroup.com/wiki/Pixel_4a_Battery_Perform...

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#118

Post by kam »

bmaupin wrote: post #102

I'm trying to figure out what the actual latest update is doing regarding the battery. I found an update to the kernel binary but it doesn't seem the source has been updated. Can I submit a GPL request to Google to get the kernel source? https://github.com/bmaupin/pixel4a-battery-research

I also looked around AOSP and found the commit for the battery alert icon [1], but no kernel source.

[1] https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/...

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#119

Post by eldaisfish »

Freak_NL wrote: post #95
eldaisfish wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nonsense like this is why I personally will never buy a google hardware product ever again. It is also why it is so difficult to recommend an android phone because of google being an advert company first.

The other side of the coin is that the Pixels are one of the few (only?) devices supported by GrapheneOS. (My Pixel 6 is rock solid on that by the way.)

I had a nexus 5x and then a pixel 4a. The latter I bought used as a burner phone.

This is the core problem - it is a roll of the dice whether your hardware will work five years from today.

I’m less concerned about the software but that is also a problem.

Meanwhile, my iPhone SE from 2016 still works as advertised.

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#120

Post by jeroenhd »

bmaupin wrote: post #102

I'm trying to figure out what the actual latest update is doing regarding the battery. I found an update to the kernel binary but it doesn't seem the source has been updated. Can I submit a GPL request to Google to get the kernel source? https://github.com/bmaupin/pixel4a-battery-research

If you own a device, you're entitled to a copy of all GPL software that came with it, including some build tools. However, if the diminished battery performance comes from some kind of firmware update for an embedded microcontroller, you're probably out of luck there, unless that controller also runs GPL software.

It's possible the changes you're looking for are already listed on one of these repos: https://android.googlesource.com/device/google/sunfish-sepol... https://android.googlesource.com/device/google/sunfish-kerne... https://android.googlesource.com/device/google/sunfish/

(sunfish is the codename for the Pixel 4a)

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