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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

#351

Post by jpalawaga »

scarface_74 wrote: post #318
kllrnohj wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 tre…

Apple did not “do this”. Apple ole didn’t ruin a perfectly good phone with an update. The throttling they did on phones with old batteries kept them from shutting off completely.

They basically did the same thing, which is why there was a lawsuit. It's also why Google preemitively offered users free money--it was informed by the lawsuit against Apple for the same shit.

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

#352

Post by yencabulator »

chasil wrote: post #290
kees99 wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Problem with pretty much every modern battery-powered device is that battery is flogged to near death at every charge. From @marcan's mastodon post, Pixel 4a's battery is charged to 4.45V: qcom,max-voltage-uv = ; This is completely insane, and it's a small miracle that this phone didn't follow Note7's fate. As for charge limiting... limit at 80% is an okay workaround (certainly better than no limit at all!), but it's…

Thank you for sharing your expertise. It seems to be unbelievable that none of this has become part of AOSP. I should have a battery setting that optimizes either for battery longevity, or for maximum power delivery. These settings should incorporate best practice, such as you have outlined. The last stable ACC release was in late 2023, and it appears to remain the best battery management tool for longevity. Why is t…

> I should have a battery setting that optimizes either for battery longevity, or for maximum power delivery.

Newer Pixels have a concept of "bed time" and charge slower overnight, for battery health.

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

#353

Post by lern_too_spel »

aucisson_masque wrote: post #342
lern_too_spel wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You will get tracked by those even if you use an Apple device. The key difference between Android and iOS is that Android gives users the ability not to be tracked. iOS (even MacOS) doesn't even let you uninstall Apple News. iOS won't let you get your location or install an app without telling Apple. It won't even let you run a browser other than Safari, which has known data leaking vulnerabilities. User control is t…

Apple does it one way, Google does the same thing but another way. Instead of locking everything down, preventing you to use any other browser than safari for instance, they push you to use their spyware. Android might be open source, but the Google play services are not and if you ever tried to do anything without them, you'd know it's impossible. Both tracks you by forcing you to use their app that works as spyware…

> and if you ever tried to do anything without them, you'd know it's impossible.

I've done plenty of things without them. All Amazon devices do everything they do without them. Same with all Android devices sold in China.

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

#354

Post by [deleted] »

chasil wrote: post #290
kees99 wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Problem with pretty much every modern battery-powered device is that battery is flogged to near death at every charge. From @marcan's mastodon post, Pixel 4a's battery is charged to 4.45V: qcom,max-voltage-uv = ; This is completely insane, and it's a small miracle that this phone didn't follow Note7's fate. As for charge limiting... limit at 80% is an okay workaround (certainly better than no limit at all!), but it's…

Thank you for sharing your expertise. It seems to be unbelievable that none of this has become part of AOSP. I should have a battery setting that optimizes either for battery longevity, or for maximum power delivery. These settings should incorporate best practice, such as you have outlined. The last stable ACC release was in late 2023, and it appears to remain the best battery management tool for longevity. Why is t…

[deleted]

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

#355

Post by littlestymaar »

scarface_74 wrote: post #347
littlestymaar wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Battery do degrade over time, but the phone speed nerf was spread to many phones were battery degradation was far too little to cause the kind of disruption you're talking about. A theoretical concern that was marginal at best in the actual fleet of phone was used as an excuse for shady behavior (And that shady behavior got them a fine in France before they reverted the patch here). Also, I don't understand why you'r…

It was never “reversed” anywhere according to your citation. They added a setting to let you turn it off. It wasn’t a theoretical concern. Phones were shutting down. Again this is physics.

Too bad their lawyer wasn't able to explain physics to the French law enforcement and it costed them $25 million.

Apple fanboys are really the best when it comes to defend the indefensible.

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

#356

Post by scarface_74 »

jpalawaga wrote: post #351
scarface_74 wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple did not “do this”. Apple ole didn’t ruin a perfectly good phone with an update. The throttling they did on phones with old batteries kept them from shutting off completely.

They basically did the same thing, which is why there was a lawsuit. It's also why Google preemitively offered users free money--it was informed by the lawsuit against Apple for the same shit.

The purpose of the throttling was to keep the phone from shutting off when the battery was old. That feature is still in iOS.

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

#357

Post by scarface_74 »

littlestymaar wrote: post #355
scarface_74 wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was never “reversed” anywhere according to your citation. They added a setting to let you turn it off. It wasn’t a theoretical concern. Phones were shutting down. Again this is physics.

Too bad their lawyer wasn't able to explain physics to the French law enforcement and it costed them $25 million. Apple fanboys are really the best when it comes to defend the indefensible.

Well first you said it didn’t happen in France - and it did.

No one has ever accused the EU of being tech literate.

And that feature is still part of iOS…

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

#358

Post by malfist »

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…

Ars reporting says the $50 cash option's vendor charges a $30 annual fee if you don't close your account after getting paid.

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

#359

Post by littlestymaar »

scarface_74 wrote: post #357
littlestymaar wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too bad their lawyer wasn't able to explain physics to the French law enforcement and it costed them $25 million. Apple fanboys are really the best when it comes to defend the indefensible.

Well first you said it didn’t happen in France - and it did. No one has ever accused the EU of being tech literate. And that feature is still part of iOS…

> Well first you said it didn’t happen in France - and it did.

It did, shortly, then Apple got fined and then the feature was removed, yes, there's no contradiction whatsoever with anything I said.

> No one has ever accused the EU of being tech literate.

First it has no link with the EU, and then you said it wasn't about tech but “physics”. And surely Apple would hire lawyers familiar enough with physics to be able to explain it…

> And that feature is still part of iOS…

But now at least it's opt-out because Apple was forced to do something against the backlash. Nobody would have called that shady if they communicated clearly about the throttling and made it opt-out from the get go (or even better: wait before such a issue gets triggered once before throttling the phone, and explicitly tell the user when it happens…). And surely that's what company that cares about user experience as much as Apple would do … if they weren't trying to screw their customers.

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

#360

Post by ryeguy »

scarface_74 wrote: post #324
ryeguy wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This wasn't a buggy update. It was announced ahead of time via email, including compensation options.

How was this not a buggy update?

Like I said, they emailed us ahead of time and THEN pushed the update. Before the update was pushed, they said the battery life would deplete and offered compensation options.

They haven't said why they did this, like if it was a battery defect issue or what.

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