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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

#161

Post by chasil »

sharpshadow wrote: post #153
chasil wrote: post #104

Earlier 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…

That defeats the whole point of a Pixel, the camera app.

A URL can be found below to load it back into your custom ROM, and supposedly the same camera can be found in the Play store.

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

#162

Post by zer0x4d »

alt227 wrote: post #92
mottalli wrote: post #5

I received the email from Google notifying me of this "battery performance update" for my Pixel 4A which actually drains the battery faster , so it left me scratching my head wondering what a "performance update" is for Google. After the update, my battery was depleted at an alarming rate. I applied for the $100 voucher but I've never heard back from Google. So I decided to bite the bullet and moved to iPhone instead…

You dont remember batterygate then? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batterygate

Lol this was the most blown out of proportion "gate" ever and a nothing burger really. The issue wasn't what Apple did, as it is a very common practice in the industry and I bet almost every other manufacturer did it too. The issue was that they didn't notify the user.

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

#163

Post by wanderingmind »

chasil wrote: post #104
OliveMate wrote: post #75

Hi, (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…

Why go all through that pain when graphene OS gives you a straightforward install?

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

#164

Post by aquasync »

chasil wrote: post #104
OliveMate wrote: post #75

Hi, (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…

Thanks for the info! My pixel has already applied the update unfortunately - any ideas if switching to lineageos is still helpful in that case?

They’re not offering the free battery replacement in Aus otherwise I’d do that - hard to be sure that getting a new battery in a local repair shop wouldn’t be similarly affected by the new limits (presumably some sort of blacklist on serial numbers?).

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

#165

Post by deng »

ndriscoll wrote: post #150
deng wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK, let me google it for you: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=2024-43096 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4377... https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-4377... https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=2024-49747 https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=2024-49748 These are just the RCE bugs without user interaction that were fixed with the January up…

So I'm not terribly familiar with Bluetooth. Are these something that can be exploited by an unpaired device? "Google Android on a Pixel 4a is vulnerable to remote code execution by arbitrary nearby wireless devices" is certainly a better reason to not use one than "security updates have ended".

> So I'm not terribly familiar with Bluetooth. Are these something that can be exploited by an unpaired device?

Who knows, someone would need to write an actual exploit for these. Just quickly skim through the Android security bulletins at

https://source.android.com/docs/security/bulletin

and you'll see that every month lots and lots of CVEs are fixed with at least high or even critical severity in various stacks. If you're running a phone that hasn't received updates since August 2023, you can assume that you have dozens of remotely exploitable bugs on your system. The security track record of Android is absolutely terrible.

That phone hacking is not a big thing is simply because it's usually much easier for a hacker to get into the cloud services people use instead through targeted phishing attacks. If that makes you feel safe using a phone without updates, then good for you, but don't claim these updates aren't actually fixing serious bugs every month.

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

#166

Post by mathstuf »

OliveMate wrote: post #75

Hi, (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…

> At no point has Google came out and stated -why- they're pushing this update in the first place.

The cynic in me recommends that anyone contributing to Google (or really any big tech company) projects to use "bug fixes and performance improvements" or "What's new:" (with an empty body) as commit messages and refuse to update them until we get useful changelogs for app updates.

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

#167

Post by [deleted] »

eldaisfish wrote: post #119
Freak_NL wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

[deleted]

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

#168

Post by chasil »

netghost wrote: post #56

This destroyed my phone, and their appeasement process was terrible too. There was no way for me to find out whether there was a supported repair shop nearby, the $50 cash was apparently through a very dodgy company, and then $100 google store credit didn't disclose that it's "upon review within three weeks" until after you irrevocably chose the option. The whole thing is ridiculous and poorly handled. Sadly, if my p…

Here is a map of the stores:

https://images.ctfassets.net/d9ybqgejqp0w/7hP2z3Oyn8xH4TvFJt...

You can schedule an appointment here:

https://asurion.com

A retired coworker got a 4a off eBay two years ago, and it's eligible for a free battery replacement.

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

#169

Post by jeromegv »

alt227 wrote: post #92
mottalli wrote: post #5

I received the email from Google notifying me of this "battery performance update" for my Pixel 4A which actually drains the battery faster , so it left me scratching my head wondering what a "performance update" is for Google. After the update, my battery was depleted at an alarming rate. I applied for the $100 voucher but I've never heard back from Google. So I decided to bite the bullet and moved to iPhone instead…

You dont remember batterygate then? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batterygate

It was the opposite, slowing down the processor to preserve the battery (when a battery was quite old).

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

#170

Post by computehyper »

I'm semi homeless and the forced Pixel 4a battery update made my phone unusable and I'm in a state of tears. What can I do? Reddit deleted my post (I am hoping it's not because of Google employees)

I don't want to get too long into what happened in my life, but I had a Pixel 4a and everything was running great. Even when I was on the streets homeless I was able to charge it. I'm still struggling in and out, and apparently there was an update that came automatically to my phone. I checked and talked to live support in the library and they said it was just a battery update and it will last a bit less. That wasn't a big deal I thought but now the update came and my battery went from many hours to maybe half an hour now and doesn't charge at all or very slowly. I have interviews and some other small jobs that I have to do and just hard life right now and I do not have any money for this. I am a bit emotional so I asked while tearing up to Google support why they did this and I can't afford this my life is in shambles but they didn't help me. Even with the battery replacement I do not live near any local shops and mailing it in would not be possible for my situation. I bought this phone when my life was good and I only like this one and want to use this one.

All my stuff is on here and I don't know too much about phones so I just want this to work. I don't have money to fix this. I feel like the phone will die any second. What can be done? I didn't know they would do this. My life just keeps getting worse... I always feared my phone getting stolen on the streets but never thought Google would steal my phone.

What can I do? I don't have much minutes or data and can't afford it, is there a number I can call Google directly? I don't want to play with the phone and do anything weird my life is on it and can't back it up.

Thank you all.

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