I am done suggesting pixel phones to my family elders. Refurbished iPhones is the way to go
Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update
151–160 of 370 posts
Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update
#152Hi, (soon to be ex) Pixel 4a user here. Regardless of why this update has happened, the way Google have went about this update is sketchy at best, and deceitful at worst. To be plain: this phone has been EOL for 1½ years now. This update has appeared out of the blue and specifically decimates the battery + charging capabilities. My most charitable view is that Google have found a major fault with the Pixel 4a battery…
There is no way Google is making software update plans based on the revenue opportunity for breaking phones that are already 2 years past end of life.
The numbers just don't make sense.
Users who love 5-year-old phones can easily get a cheap used phone, which are in abundant supply.
Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update
#153Hi, (soon to be ex) Pixel 4a user here. Regardless of why this update has happened, the way Google have went about this update is sketchy at best, and deceitful at worst. To be plain: this phone has been EOL for 1½ years now. This update has appeared out of the blue and specifically decimates the battery + charging capabilities. My most charitable view is that Google have found a major fault with the Pixel 4a battery…
Unless your Pixel 4a is from Verizon (locked), keep it. Unlock the bootloader, then install LineageOS, MindTheGapps, and Magisk. Once you have Magisk stabilized, install the Advanced Charging Controller, and configure it to halt charging at 80%. That should solve your problems, and turn the updates back on. I don't think there is a way to make Google Pay work in this configuration, which is a drawback. I can put all…
That defeats the whole point of a Pixel, the camera app.
Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update
#154I resolved this problem on my Pixel 4a by installing graphene OS. YMMV.
Did you install GrapheneOS before or after the problematic update from google?
Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unless your Pixel 4a is from Verizon (locked), keep it. Unlock the bootloader, then install LineageOS, MindTheGapps, and Magisk. Once you have Magisk stabilized, install the Advanced Charging Controller, and configure it to halt charging at 80%. That should solve your problems, and turn the updates back on. I don't think there is a way to make Google Pay work in this configuration, which is a drawback. I can put all…
>Once you have Magisk stabilized, install the Advanced Charging Controller, and configure it to halt charging at 80%. That will reduce future wear, but won't suddenly make the battery better. If anything it'll make the battery even worse, at least in the short term.
My 4a went from 3 day battery life to less than a day, immediately after the "update".
Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update
#156The pixel 4a battery life saga was what made both me and my entire extended family never even consider buying a pixel phone again (and move to Samsung or iPhones).
Google denied the issues existed forever, then shipped a fix that somehow made them even worse, and made the phone unusable for years. I hope we were not the only ones.
Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel this a lot. Android's used to differentiate themselves from iPhones by having useful technical features at a competitive price. I used to be die-hard pro-Android, but now I can find very few reasons to buy one. Now the Android UI is sparse and wobbly, Androids lost call recording, sideloading is limited, and they raised their prices to cost as much as iPhones. Meanwhile, iPhones got call recording, they opened…
This comment equates Android with Google phones for some reason. The complaints have nothing to do with Android — side loading is light years ahead of Apple (and third party application stores can finally automatically update applications). Call recording works fine on my friend's Xiaomi 14T (I think) that he bought just a couple of weeks ago, and it works fine on my own device that's on latest Lineage (Android 15).…
I have a very small pool of Androids I consider. Pixels maintain a strong security model (similar to what iPhones have), and they allow you to re-lock the bootloader after installing a non-stock OS. It's between a Pixel, or a FairPhone.
I liked Lineage, but an unlocked bootloader is a security non-starter for a device that's so personal and vital.
For those using the stock OS, Googles are nice because you "only" have Google's spyware built in to the OS.
Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update
#158I resolved this problem on my Pixel 4a by installing graphene OS. YMMV.
Did you install GrapheneOS before or after the problematic update from google?
After the update from Google, my 4a did not seem to hold a charge like it did before. I read the reviews/risks and thought that my easiest options were to either roll-back the OS update, or finally give GrapheneOS a try.
Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Why can't Windows and Android provide such a feature? Windows does. Android "can't" because the OS is a partition image with libraries not intended to be updated piecemeal, not a collection of loosely related external projects like Linux is.
Nothing actually requires Android to be that way. They chose poorly but every new release is an opportunity to fix it.
> They chose poorly
Did they? Immutable system images are a pretty solid feature to have. It's a lot less "fall over broken as shit randomly" than desktop Linux is...
Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update
#160Has there been a single Pixel with no boot loop, battery, reception, or otherwise some other major issue?
What is going on at the Pixel team??? They have probably single handedly cost Google millions of dollars