The Pixel 3's three years of support are over, while the Pixel 6 is just beginning.
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Android’s November security patch brings Pixel 6 fixes, ends Pixel 3 support
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The second one at least has been stopped with the Pixel 6 (5 years of security updates), although that's small comfort to people with perfectly good older phones. As far as the Pixel Buds are concerned, they don't seem to be much different from buds from Apple, Samsung, Anker, etc.
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Sim racers use them with the SimHub (or similar) software as digital dashboards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-mEIlYHXuI
3D Printer builders use them as touchscreens/monitors for otherwise headless 3D printers.
https://youtu.be/gYP2j-dUrBY?t=84
Home Automation nerds use them as always on touch panels for controlling lights and other devices.
I use them with an Android app called "Lightning Bug" as white noise machines for my kid's rooms.
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I have my current 3XL on my left and my new Pixel 6 on my right. Managed to order one on release day. I just need to finish getting all my apps set up on the P6 before I move my number over. Maybe later today.
I thought the Pixel 3XL was a great phone but it's showing its age a bit. The battery life is almost still good enough for my all day light usage but it's much less than it originally was. I've been itching for a decent upgrade anyway and the Pixel 6 fit the bill. (but not the pro - I hate curved screens)
But I'll be keeping the P3XL around for multiple uses. It'll just be a wifi device with no phone number on it anymore.
I thought the Pixel 3XL was a great phone but it's showing its age a bit. The battery life is almost still good enough for my all day light usage but it's much less than it originally was. I've been itching for a decent upgrade anyway and the Pixel 6 fit the bill. (but not the pro - I hate curved screens)
But I'll be keeping the P3XL around for multiple uses. It'll just be a wifi device with no phone number on it anymore.
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The thing is it doesn't really make sense. If they got Qualcomm to update the drivers, its unlikely a security bug is in the drivers, and they went through the whole effort of upgrading it to Android 12, its the minor security patches/bug fixes they aren't giving? Why bother upgrading it to 12 then? I get not giving it Android 13, by that age it will be fairly obsolete and more work to support it.
My whole family has Pixel 3 XLs and the batteries aren't lasting too well on any of them... I was planning to upgrade to the Pixel 6 Pro but hoping for a good black friday sale.
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The dichotomy of the first two posts quoted below made to this article is striking.
I think it's sad that 3 years is considered good, but it is above nearly all other Android brands.
It's ironic that Google commits to 3 years support and does exactly that, while Apple doesn't have any formal official minimum support period, yet historically has had much longer support periods and in fact is continuing the trend overall to longer and longer support periods.
I wish Apple's support periods were explicit minimums that could be surpassed rather than just based on faith.
IOS and Android ecosystems each have their flaws.
My Pixel 3 XL had a good run... notched about three years! Pixel 6 Pro is on a FedEx truck headed my way.
One of the reasons Google instituted a three year minimum is that earlier Android phones would come out of the gate with virtually no support. You could even buy a phone that was out of date the day you bought it.
The three year window was based upon Qualcomm’s three years of support for their chips. It’s sort of silly to support a phone when the chip manufacturer doesn’t support the CPU.
Apple, because they make their own chips since the iPhone 4 doesn’t have that limitation. Apple literally supports their phones until it becomes too difficult to keep them up to date. Stating an official support window would limit Apple’s ability to develop new products. Imagine having to hold off on new development because the five year old model can’t support it.
There’s one advantage Apple has with this long term support. Almost all users of the iPhone are running the latest OS. That means less support issues. Google doesn’t have that advantage because right out of the gate they’re supporting dozens of versions of Android.
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Judging from the comments in this thread, it's a good thing I held off upgrading my Pixel 3 to Android 12.
There's really not much wrong with the phone, other than the fingerprint reader getting finicky. Haven't found a suitable replacement yet that has wireless charging and isn't huge.
Phone makers, are you listening? Make an android phone that's under 6" and includes wireless charging, and I'll give you my money!
There's really not much wrong with the phone, other than the fingerprint reader getting finicky. Haven't found a suitable replacement yet that has wireless charging and isn't huge.
Phone makers, are you listening? Make an android phone that's under 6" and includes wireless charging, and I'll give you my money!
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This is funny. When I buy a new iPhone, I put in the SIM card, and log in to my Apple account. Everything else happens on its own.
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Qualcomm shenanigans was the excuse for why Android phones couldn't get major OS updates, but what's the excuse that Google can't keep providing security updates on an older phone for longer? And that's before pointing out that this phone DID just get updated to the latest version of Android so chipset driver support is clearly not in play yet. Google basically did the "hard" upgrade and then walked away from providing easier minimal support. Laziness and lack of concern for customers are the only explanations that come to mind. We promised X and not a minute more and that's what you get seems to be their thinking
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I'm not sure the OP is aware that the same process is available on the Pixel.
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Pixel 3 got Android 12 a couple of weeks ago, but there will be no patches for it, apparently.
I bought a Pixel 6 because the battery and USB connector on my P3 are about toast. I may throw GrapheneOS on the old phone just to tinker with it, but they've warned that P3 support will end soon, too.
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This is an absolutely huge thing, and I 100% agree with the sentiment on support.
I ditched Samsung years ago because of the obnoxious bloatware. I tried a Motorola, but found the lack of software support disappointing. Pixel is my last frontier with Android, and so far I've had a very good experience with it. If Google messes this up, I will end up with an iPhone.
The 6 is a good phone, all of is features range from fine to brilliant, but in my opinion the 3,4 and 5 were great phones too, including the a's- they remain criminally underrated products. Aside from the lack of superficial flashyness for the YouTube content creators, the support window is the only weakness. Google needs to send a message about its intentions and commit to its user base. The 6 certainty has a better lifetime, but with their own soc in the phone, Google could easily do better.
I ditched Samsung years ago because of the obnoxious bloatware. I tried a Motorola, but found the lack of software support disappointing. Pixel is my last frontier with Android, and so far I've had a very good experience with it. If Google messes this up, I will end up with an iPhone.
The 6 is a good phone, all of is features range from fine to brilliant, but in my opinion the 3,4 and 5 were great phones too, including the a's- they remain criminally underrated products. Aside from the lack of superficial flashyness for the YouTube content creators, the support window is the only weakness. Google needs to send a message about its intentions and commit to its user base. The 6 certainty has a better lifetime, but with their own soc in the phone, Google could easily do better.
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Three years of anything isn't acceptable. When the phones were $400 and improving by leaps and bounds, and the malware risk was so low that you'd seriously consider rooting, maybe.
But now? My iPhone X just passed the 4-year mark, and for my needs, it'll probably be fine for another two or three. And then it'll start another life for someone else.
But now? My iPhone X just passed the 4-year mark, and for my needs, it'll probably be fine for another two or three. And then it'll start another life for someone else.
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Ooph, I felt this. I have a Pixel 3. It's still snappy. Camera quality was amazing when I bought it, and still leagues ahead of the lower-tier from today.
With my previous phones, I wanted to upgrade it by the time the support period was up. But this has been a great phone and still is. I could easily keep it another couple of years. Google really needs to update their policy. Even tech savvy people like me are going to start risking it by hanging on to unsupported phones. The hardware is too good for a garbage bin.
With my previous phones, I wanted to upgrade it by the time the support period was up. But this has been a great phone and still is. I could easily keep it another couple of years. Google really needs to update their policy. Even tech savvy people like me are going to start risking it by hanging on to unsupported phones. The hardware is too good for a garbage bin.
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Android will as well once you sign into your Google account, if you elected to back up everything to your Google account. It's entirely possible they didn't, or they like to use the occasion of getting a new phone as a chance to go through and start clean, ditching any apps that you grabbed at some point in the past and stopped using and forgot about.
I kinda do that. During the restore process, it actually gives you a chance to go through all your apps and select which ones to restore and which you would like to leave behind. There's usually a couple apps I forgot about that I don't need anymore by the time I get a new phone.
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Plus if you're going to ask iPhone prices, you need to offer iPhone value. The number of years a phone lasts is a major part of its value, especially resale value. If you're going to offer half the Apple support length, it's reasonable to expect it to to cost ~half.
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Disappointing. I have a Pixel 3 now, and was hoping to hand it off to a friend, but I can't do so in good conscience when it's not getting security updates or even basic bug fixes. Shame on Google for this one, we have enough E waste as it is.
I didn't have an issue getting my Pixel 6 order in though. It would have arrived Monday, but I had to redirect it to hold at a FedEx store as I had a sudden work trip come up. I was able to order it on launch day.
I didn't have an issue getting my Pixel 6 order in though. It would have arrived Monday, but I had to redirect it to hold at a FedEx store as I had a sudden work trip come up. I was able to order it on launch day.
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Trust a poster in an Android thread to make Apples 5-6 years of OS updates out to be a bad thing because there’s no actual no. of years written down. I mean, why?The dichotomy of the first two posts quoted below made to this article is striking.
I think it's sad that 3 years is considered good, but it is above nearly all other Android brands.
It's ironic that Google commits to 3 years support and does exactly that, while Apple doesn't have any formal official minimum support period, yet historically has had much longer support periods and in fact is continuing the trend overall to longer and longer support periods.
I wish Apple's support periods were explicit minimums that could be surpassed rather than just based on faith.
IOS and Android ecosystems each have their flaws.
My Pixel 3 XL had a good run... notched about three years! Pixel 6 Pro is on a FedEx truck headed my way.
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A friend of mine already made the mistake of installing 12 on his Pixel 5, and between the bugs, pointless changes, and lack of any real improvements, I don't think I'll be "upgrading" to it on my Pixel 3 at all.
Besides, in terms of security there's no difference anyways since I won't get any further updates, and the bugs from 12 will never get fixed on my device for the same reason.
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I do not understand pushing out Android 12 to the Pixel 3 and then the next month comes and oh sorry it's out of support? I am sure they had to do some amount of work to include the Pixel 3 in Android 12. This just seems lazy and holding to the policy for no good reason. Surely because they just dropped 12 on the 3 they could provide security updates for it until the next version of Android comes out. They do not need QUALCOMM's permission to do anything else to the phone, they already did it.
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Been out of the rom game for a while, but my Pixel 3 is still going strong so...recommendations?
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I just didn't install the 12 update on my 3XL. Since I'm not getting any more security updates, I don't see any reason to install 12. I can go for a few months without security updates until I figure out which new phone I want to switch to.
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It looks like GrapheneOS has designated the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL as legacy devices as of today. They say they will no longer receive full security updates, but will be supported "via extended support releases." I wonder if that means they may still get occasional updates with backported security fixes?
The beta release early this morning, which will likely become the next stable release, includes the full November patch. However it does not include a build for the Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL. I believe this is the first GrapheneOS release to exclude them. (Edit: Since the project has been under the GrapheneOS name, that is.)
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all this talk of the generic kernel image in android 12, and google being able to push out lots of security updates via the play store going back to android... 5 or 6, whenever that was, isn't that supposed to help with providing longer support windows for older devices?
Sure, the end of support for Pixel 3 was known well ahead of time, but it seems to me that all of these changes would make the "long tail" of support and usability better for end users and easier on manufacturers.
Was that not the case?
Sure, the end of support for Pixel 3 was known well ahead of time, but it seems to me that all of these changes would make the "long tail" of support and usability better for end users and easier on manufacturers.
Was that not the case?
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I don't regret ditching my Pixel 3 for an iPhone one bit. This just seals the deal. It took a couple weeks to get used to the interface, but otherwise I haven't missed Android despite using it since Cupcake all the way up to Android 11.
Extended support for Pixel phones is a joke - it only seems good relative to other Android devices because they are even worse. But that doesn't matter anyway, because the poor battery life will kill the phone long before a lack of software updates do.
Extended support for Pixel phones is a joke - it only seems good relative to other Android devices because they are even worse. But that doesn't matter anyway, because the poor battery life will kill the phone long before a lack of software updates do.
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Pixel 3s are still bricking themselves at alarming rates with no acknowledgement or solutions from Google. The whole utter lack of support after 2 years has left me happier to switch to Apple, much as I detest the walled garden. At least I actually get support for a flagship phone now.
I can no longer recommend Google hardware in good faith to anyone.
I can no longer recommend Google hardware in good faith to anyone.
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To paraphrase Lilly Tomlin "We don't care, we don't have to, we're The Android Company! *snort*"
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Google has been making tens of billions in profit per year for many years now. They could have negotiated a long term support period with any vendor for the amount of money they have to throw around.
They didn't do it because they don't care. Profits are more important than environmental concerns, profits are more important than users.
I've had enough. I've never owned an Apple product, and I find Apple fanatics tiresome. But when my current Android device dies, I'm buying an iPhone with its - likely - 5+ year support period.
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Oh fantastic. I just updated to Android 12 on my Pixel 3XL and it's a UI/UX nightmare. Genuinely awful. Had I known it was going EOL literally a week later I would have just gone to Developer Options and disabled auto update.
Seriously bad UI choices. Things that were a single tap or gesture are now multiple swipes or require two hands. Brightness slider and volume slider are so chunky they're unusable. Is volume at 50% or 90%? Who knows? The bar is so thick it obscures the "track" it slides on, so there's no way to know where in it's range it is. Volume, Vibrate, Silent toggle is now animated and requires more interaction to select an option that previously was a mindless toggle. Don't get me started on the wifi and mobile data quick settings being rolled into one single, not very quick setting.
I was hoping many of these things would be tweaked in coming patches. Guess not for me...
Seriously bad UI choices. Things that were a single tap or gesture are now multiple swipes or require two hands. Brightness slider and volume slider are so chunky they're unusable. Is volume at 50% or 90%? Who knows? The bar is so thick it obscures the "track" it slides on, so there's no way to know where in it's range it is. Volume, Vibrate, Silent toggle is now animated and requires more interaction to select an option that previously was a mindless toggle. Don't get me started on the wifi and mobile data quick settings being rolled into one single, not very quick setting.
I was hoping many of these things would be tweaked in coming patches. Guess not for me...
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I share the disappointment (and a bit of outrage), but no owners should be surprised / caught off guard by this. Google documented their support policy, and is following the exact path they did with Pixel 2 a year ago / OG Pixel two years ago.
Yes it seems strange to do the heavy work (new OS version) and then quickly abandon it, but that's what happened last 2 years too. Those who are afraid of being stuck with buggy new OS with no further updates, could/should have skipped the last monthly update to Android 12.
If Google follows last 2 years' precedence, it may give one extra final update in a month or two to fix the most serious Android 12 bugs.
Yes it seems strange to do the heavy work (new OS version) and then quickly abandon it, but that's what happened last 2 years too. Those who are afraid of being stuck with buggy new OS with no further updates, could/should have skipped the last monthly update to Android 12.
If Google follows last 2 years' precedence, it may give one extra final update in a month or two to fix the most serious Android 12 bugs.
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A long time ago, I loaded the Nova launcher on my Pixel 3. It works just fine, and when it "upgraded" to Android 12, guess what changed in my UI? That's right - nothing.
Got fed-up of dealing with the stupid UI ideas that Google keep coming up with. Just load ther Nova Launcher, tweak it as you like it, and forget it.
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I'm kinda surprised that I haven't (that I remember) read anything about legislatures anywhere making noises about this. Requiring a specific support period in law sounds like just the sort of thing the EU in particular would do.
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Installing Nova Launcher was among the first things I did when issued my work phone (a Samsung A50). It doesn't look great to me, but the way it works is just about exactly how I'd like the home screen on my personal iPhone to work.
Edit: tpyo.
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VividVerism
Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
You should at least link the official download page instead of a site with no affiliation.
https://download.lineageos.org/blueline
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Very little in android 11 bothered me. I enjoyed the quick settings. The quick app suggestions were handy. Access to app drawer from anywhere was the best. I haven't used Nova in ages. But I doubt it'll fix quick settings or other UI nuisances like the ring/silent/vibrate selector. I'll give it a try though
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Trust a poster in an Android thread to make Apples 5-6 years of OS updates out to be a bad thing because there’s no actual no. of years written down. I mean, why?The dichotomy of the first two posts quoted below made to this article is striking.
I think it's sad that 3 years is considered good, but it is above nearly all other Android brands.
It's ironic that Google commits to 3 years support and does exactly that, while Apple doesn't have any formal official minimum support period, yet historically has had much longer support periods and in fact is continuing the trend overall to longer and longer support periods.
I wish Apple's support periods were explicit minimums that could be surpassed rather than just based on faith.
IOS and Android ecosystems each have their flaws.
My Pixel 3 XL had a good run... notched about three years! Pixel 6 Pro is on a FedEx truck headed my way.
Did I come off like an Android fanboy? I have an iPhone now, specifically because I was tired of replacing otherwise perfectly good Androids due to security concerns. I mean I look at history and trust I'll have longer support, but I still like to see things officially in writing. I don't think that's unreasonable.
When I buy other name brand electronics they pretty much all last a lot longer than their written X year warranty. Should we do away with all warranties now?
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Many folks want to force manufacturers to support the device.
And I say: mandate nothing. You can support for as long as you wish.
The law, however, states that as long as you cease to do so, you must provide anything the community may need to take the mantle. Whatever that is.
Considering most of my phones are kept alive by custom ROMs, not the manufacturer - heck, my A70 is a year and a half old and is already getting spotty security uodates, let alone full fledged ones! - this would be the effective solution.
I am tired of being held hostage and in contempt because of arbitrary IP rules. Take care of your stuff or get the hell out of the way.
And I say: mandate nothing. You can support for as long as you wish.
The law, however, states that as long as you cease to do so, you must provide anything the community may need to take the mantle. Whatever that is.
Considering most of my phones are kept alive by custom ROMs, not the manufacturer - heck, my A70 is a year and a half old and is already getting spotty security uodates, let alone full fledged ones! - this would be the effective solution.
I am tired of being held hostage and in contempt because of arbitrary IP rules. Take care of your stuff or get the hell out of the way.
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Voix des Airs
Ars Praefectus
I thought it was just me. I immediately regretted upgrading to 12 on my Pixel 3 and was really disappointed when I saw this article. I know it's a personal preference thing and YMMV and all that so if you're reading this and like all the ui changes in 12 then cool but... I find it truly displeasing and actually more difficult to use. Visually I just don't like everything from the odd animations to the color schemes. It's also kind of stuttery sometimes and the animations don't always work right.
Anyway, I guess I'm pretty much stuck with it now.
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