One in every of Google’s objectives with the Pixel sequence was once to provide higher long-term improve than Android telephones most often get. Sufficient time has handed that we will now glance again and notice how they’ve delivered on that promise. When it comes to the Pixel 7 and Pixel 6, it doesn’t glance nice.
Beginning with the Pixel 8 sequence in 2023, Google made seven years of tool updates the usual. Samsung briefly adopted its transfer with flagship Galaxy telephones. The Pixel 7 and Pixel 6 had been solely intended to get 5 years of improve, however Google prolonged it by means of two years. The truth, alternatively, isn’t as flattering.
Google makes a remark with tool improve
The unique dedication
The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Professional had been introduced in October 2022, and so they had been preceded by means of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Professional in 2021. As well as, the Pixel 7a was once launched in Might 2023, which adopted the Pixel 6a from July 2022. All of those gadgets had been introduced with 5 years of tool improve.
Now, 5 years of improve doesn’t imply 5 Android variations. In Google-speak, that’s 5 years of safety updates, however solely 3 years of Android model updates. Google stuck some flak for this when it was once published, because it felt disingenuous. So, to make issues proper, it later added an additional two years of improve to all of the Pixel 7 and six sequence (together with the A telephones).
In case you’re preserving monitor at house, that suggests the Pixel 7’s improve cycle leads to October 2027, whilst the Pixel 6’s cycle is scheduled to finish this Fall. Let’s see how Google has been doing.
How Lengthy Will My Android Telephone Be Supported With Updates?
It is a difficult query.
Low-effort long-term improve
Guarantees are simply phrases
In keeping with the sleuths at Droid-Lifestyles, Google was once doing an attractive just right activity of preserving those telephones up to the moment till ultimate Summer season. The Pixel 7, 7a, 6, and six all won the June 2025 replace inside a cheap period of time. Issues had been just a little hit and miss since then.
The Pixel 6 sequence didn’t obtain the July or August 2025 updates in any respect. Then, after in the end receiving the September replace, Google ignored October and November. The December replace arrived promptly, however January and February 2026 had been skipped. March and April had been won, however on the time of writing, Might has now not. The Pixel 6a ignored 5 months in the similar span.
Quiz
The Historical past of Android OS
Trivialities Problem
From a scrappy startup to the arena’s most well liked running gadget — how neatly have you learnt Android’s outstanding adventure?
OriginsVariationsMilestonesAcquisitionsDesign
In what yr was once Android Inc. at the start based by means of Andy Rubin and his co-founders?
Proper! Android Inc. was once based in October 2003 in Palo Alto, California. The unique imaginative and prescient was once if truth be told to construct a better running gadget for virtual cameras ahead of the crew pivoted to cellphones.
Now not reasonably — Android Inc. was once based in 2003. Many of us confuse this with 2007, the yr the primary Android telephone was once introduced, however the corporate had already been running at the back of the scenes for years by means of then.
How a lot did Google pay to obtain Android Inc. in 2005?
Proper! Google got Android Inc. for about $50 million in July 2005. On the time, the deal flew in large part beneath the radar, however it might turn out to be some of the consequential acquisitions in tech historical past.
Now not reasonably. Google got Android Inc. for round $50 million in 2005. It appeared like a modest sum on the time, however the funding paid off drastically — Android now powers billions of gadgets international.
What was once the title of the primary commercially to be had Android smartphone, launched in 2008?
Proper! The HTC Dream, bought because the T-Cellular G1 in the US, introduced on October 22, 2008. It featured a slide-out bodily keyboard and ran Android 1.0, atmosphere the level for the whole thing that adopted.
Now not reasonably — it was once the HTC Dream, referred to as the T-Cellular G1, that introduced in October 2008. The Motorola Droid got here later in 2009 and was once massively influential, however the G1 holds the identify of first business Android machine.
Android variations had been famously named after truffles in alphabetical order. Which dessert title corresponds to Android 4.0?
Proper! Android 4.0 was once known as Ice Cream Sandwich, launched in October 2011. It was once a landmark unlock that unified the telephone and capsule interfaces and presented the long-lasting Holo design language.
Now not reasonably — Android 4.0 was once Ice Cream Sandwich. Honeycomb (3.x) was once tablet-only, Gingerbread was once 2.3, and Jelly Bean got here after Ice Cream Sandwich. The naming scheme helped make Android model updates really feel like amusing occasions.
Ahead of pivoting to smartphones, what form of machine was once Android at the start designed to energy?
Proper! Andy Rubin and his co-founders to begin with envisioned Android as a better running gadget for virtual cameras. When it turned into transparent the digital camera marketplace was once shrinking, they pivoted to cellphones — a call that modified the tech international.
Now not reasonably. Android was once at the start conceived as an OS for virtual cameras, now not for the machine you’ll have guessed. The pivot to smartphones got here after the crew identified the large doable of the cell phone marketplace.
What was once the title of the dramatically new design language Google presented with Android 5.0 Lollipop in 2014?
Proper! Subject matter Design debuted with Android 5.0 Lollipop and taken a daring, card-based visible language impressed by means of bodily paper and ink. It turned into massively influential and was once followed throughout Google’s whole product ecosystem.
Now not reasonably — the solution is Subject matter Design, presented with Android 5.0 Lollipop. Holo was once the design language utilized in previous Android variations, whilst Fluent and Metro are related to Microsoft’s design efforts, now not Google’s.
In what yr did Android formally surpass iOS to change into the U.S.’s most generally used smartphone running gadget by means of marketplace percentage?
Proper! By way of 2010, Android had overtaken iOS to say the highest spot in U.S. smartphone marketplace percentage. Explosive expansion from producers like Samsung and HTC, blended with quite a lot of value issues, fueled the fast upward push.
Now not reasonably — Android surpassed iOS in U.S. marketplace percentage round 2010. The fast proliferation of reasonably priced Android handsets from dozens of producers made it available to a a long way broader target market than Apple’s single-device technique allowed.
Beginning with Android 10, Google dropped the dessert naming conference from public branding. What was once the interior dessert codename for Android 10?
Proper! Android 10’s interior dessert codename was once Quince Tart. Google determined to prevent the use of dessert names publicly, mentioning that lots of the names did not translate neatly throughout other languages and cultures world wide.
Now not reasonably — Android 10’s interior codename was once Quince Tart. Google retired the general public dessert branding as a result of names like Jelly Bean and KitKat did not resonate the similar manner throughout the entire nations the place Android is used.
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The Pixel 7 sequence has won higher improve, however solely somewhat. Since June 2025, Google has ignored updates for November, January, February, and the present month of Might. In the meantime, the Pixel 7a has solely ignored December, and it’s the one telephone within the crew that has won the Might 2026 replace.
Technically, those telephones are nonetheless being up to date—however solely technically. M updates had been the anticipated usual for Pixel telephones because the starting, however Google gained’t put that during writing. Right here’s its remark at the state of affairs:
“Pixel telephones will stay safety compliant for the whole length in their improve home windows, which will also be discovered right here.
Your machine will stay personal and protected via Pixel particular patches, Google Play Gadget Updates and fixes during the Android Safety Bulletin. You’ll additionally be expecting your telephone to recuperate over the years with common Pixel Drops and updates to the most recent OS for the machine’s complete improve window.”
Google doesn’t appear to assume it’s doing anything else incorrect, and that’s regarding for the way forward for newer Pixel telephones. If that is what it looks as if towards the top of a five-year dedication, I don’t really feel assured about years six and 7 for the Pixel 8 sequence and onward.
After all, it’s not likely that any one will use the similar telephone for seven years, however that’s now not the purpose. A Pixel telephone’s improve cycle starts when it first is going on sale. Quite a lot of persons are satisfied to shop for used telephones, and that’s the place long-term improve comes into play. Any individual who buys a second-hand Pixel 8 subsequent yr may just simply use it till 2030.
Irrespective of whether or not Google explicitly promised constant, per thirty days updates till the very finish, that’s what folks be expecting. The corporate by no means mentioned updates would decelerate after a undeniable time, both. With a bit of luck, the Pixel 7 and Pixel 6 can get again not off course so we will really feel higher concerning the long run.
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- Logo
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Google
- SoC
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Google Tensor G5
- Show
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6.3-inch Actua OLED, 20:9
- RAM
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12 GB RAM
- Garage
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128 GB / 256 GB
- Battery
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4970mAh
Taking a look to improve to a Pixel however now not certain if you want the entire bells and whistles of the costlier fashions? You will not be dissatisfied with the usual Pixel 10 fashion. Coming in putting colours, Gemini options, and 7 years of updates, you’ll’t move incorrect with this acquire.
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- Battery
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4700 mAh
- Ports
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USB-C
- Working Gadget
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Android 14 (at release)
- Entrance digital camera
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10.5 MP Twin PD, ƒ/2.2 aperture, 95° box of view
- Rear digital camera
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50MP wide-angle (octa PD binning), ƒ/1.68 aperture, 82° box of view, 1/1.31″ symbol sensor | 48MP ultra-wide (quad PD binning), ƒ/1.7 aperture, 123° box of view, 1/2.55″ symbol sensor
- Connectivity
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Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, Google Solid, ultra-wideband (UWB), twin band GPS, 5G mmWave + Sub 6GHz
The Google Pixel 9 includes a swish design with a formidable Tensor G4 processor, 12 GB of RAM, and a colourful 6.3-inch Actua show, making it best for shooting surprising pictures and movies with its complex 50 MP major lens and 48 MP ultrawide digital camera. With progressed sturdiness and a fast-charging all-day battery, the Pixel 9 is constructed to maintain day-to-day demanding situations whilst handing over top-notch efficiency and AI-driven features.
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