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…
> My least charitable view (and immediate reaction) is that they're purposely ruining a viable budget phone to make more sales.
Given the legal & regulatory trouble Apple got in and is currently in depending on jurisdiction for doing this, it seems highly unlikely Google would have picked now to attempt the same thing. Especially since it's literally a single device, and even the sibling 4a 5g didn't get the same treatment.
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…
If they were trying to "purposely ruin a viable budget phone", what about the rest of now obsolete and just as budget Pixels? (like 3a, 4a 5g, 5a, etc.)
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…
>My least charitable view (and immediate reaction) is that they're purposely ruining a viable budget phone to make more sales. My wife was using a pixel 4 until last year and upgraded to a 7, I took her old phone and switched it over to my info and used it for like 2 days before it got a random update and refused to ever work again. Her 7 just got an update a couple of days ago and the battery went dead and it refuse…
Google pixel software is horrendous, shocking honestly for a company with Google capabilities. Bought pixel 6 at launch, could not take calls after an update (the speaker would just emit a high pitch tone 15s after connecting, I had to ask people to call me using messaging apps for a while, lucky I did not rely on my phone for work) and wifi would switch off by itself randomly and needed to restart phone to get it working again. Had to update to beta build to get these fixed. For my model and others, it seems like every update or 2 there are populations that hit the forums with battery drain issues. I will never buy a pixel ever again.
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
Marcan is on it: https://fosstodon.org/@marcan@treehouse.systems/113914172891...
Wow, that is exactly what I was hoping to do, but I wasn't able to figure out more than 1 or 2 of those steps. Thanks!
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 wonder how long it will take for users to stop trusting anything from G..
Note that Google has publicly announced that the software update would reduce the battery capacity of some devices, at the beginning of the month: > For some devices (“Impacted Devices”), the software update reduces available battery capacity and impacts charging performance. https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/15701861?hl=en&... More details in marcan's reverse engineering of the closed-source update: https…
> You can tell which battery you have physically by the number next to the QR code. 8230015901 is ATL (good) and 8230020501 is LSN (bad). If you're replacing your battery, make sure it's ATL. Where do I find this info on my phone?
If you ignore updates, you will get hacked. If you think a bad update is a problem, wait until you have to clean up a hack. It will cost more money and take more time than buying a new phone. My advice is to buy phones from reputable manufacturers. I have had an iPhone for over 10 years and I have been very happy. The work well, last, and the performance is always good. My current goal is to keep my current phone 7 y…
> My advice is to buy phones from reputable manufacturers. You mean those slowing down your phone on updates [0] and not providing critical security updates in time [1] while not allowing existing more secure alternative browsers [2]? The true alternative is phones running mainline Linux. Sent from my Librem 5. [0] https://www.npr.org/2020/11/18/936268845/apple-agrees-to-pay... [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?i…
My iPhone is over 5 years old and has not slowed down. When Apple did slow down phones, it was because the battery was aging and it could not produce enough power to power the CPU at full speed. Apple had two choices:
1) Reduce the CPU speed so the phone did not crash
2) Not reduce the CPU speed and let the phone crash when the battery could not produce enough power.
This seems surprisingly high to me, unless you're constantly on extreme power saving mode. I liked the 4a and still have it in a drawer, but replaced it partly because I couldn't order a new screen and the battery life was frustratingly terrible after a while
It doesnt have to be on powersaving- just by leaving wifi and bluetooth off I would regularly get 3 days on a charge. Data is cheap where I live, but also I dont use my phone to stream music/video.
> My advice is to buy phones from reputable manufacturers. You mean those slowing down your phone on updates [0] and not providing critical security updates in time [1] while not allowing existing more secure alternative browsers [2]? The true alternative is phones running mainline Linux. Sent from my Librem 5. [0] https://www.npr.org/2020/11/18/936268845/apple-agrees-to-pay... [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?i…
My iPhone is over 5 years old and has not slowed down. When Apple did slow down phones, it was because the battery was aging and it could not produce enough power to power the CPU at full speed. Apple had two choices: 1) Reduce the CPU speed so the phone did not crash 2) Not reduce the CPU speed and let the phone crash when the battery could not produce enough power. I think Apple made the right choice.
The case in my link clearly shows that many people have a different opinion.
> Nobody has said "well thank God my new MacBook has no ports" or "I'm glad my battery isn't removable". The support column for these decisions is empty. No, but they do say "thank god my device survived being splashed by water" or "I'm happy this teeny tiny thin device doesn't leave an unsightly lump in my pocket" The de-featuring isn't capricious -- it's a result of optimizing for different tradeoffs. While it woul…
I've never bought that argument. Apple wanted to sell high margin accessories that get broken, lost and replaced often because people hold on to their devices about 4 years now instead of the 1-2 from 10 years ago. I use a panasonic wired headphone with a mic, $10. Airpods are $200. They wanted to increase their costs and frequency of purchase by hiding it behind accessories with higher profits and shorter longevity…
How does that explain the same decisions being made by other vendors that don't sell headphones?