Yesterday, Google started pushing the September security update to all supported Pixel devices, and the Pixel 4a was missing from the list of phones that received the event. Today, we have an official confirmation that the software support for the 2020 device has finally come to an end, with the last update being the one released in August 2023.
Google ending support for the Pixel 4a just after three years tells a sad state of Android software support
The Pixel 4a was released back in the August of 2020, which means it is just a month older than three years. The device was not as impressive as some had hoped, as it was just a very small upgrade over the Pixel 3a. On top of that, the release date was also unfortunate since the phone launched just a few weeks ahead of the Pixel 5 launch, which means that anyone who was looking for a pure Android experience would have upgraded to the latter device.
The writing was on the wall indicating Pixel 4a was being phased out because when the Android 14 developer preview started rolling out, the phone was not on the list. That basically meant that Google had no plans of carrying forward the software support for this unfortunate device. The 5G variant, on the other hand, is still receiving updates, including the Android security patch for September, as well as all Android 14 developer previews and beta versions, and of course, it will receive the Android 14 stable update when it comes out.
I do understand that the Pixel 4a was never intended for the spotlight, but Google killing software support just after three years is a sad, sad situation. For a company that has a lot of focus on software, this just comes out in the wrong way. For comparison sake, the iPhone XR was released back in 2018, and it has just received the iOS 17 update, which goes to show that Apple appears to be more committed to supporting its device than Google is.
I am really hoping that the Pixel 4a is the last device to face an early demise in terms of software support, but for some reason, I have a feeling that the same fate awaits the 5G variant and the Pixel 5 devices. However, I am hoping that with the upcoming Pixel 8, Google will revamp its update policy and start providing more updates to the devices so it can match the industry standard.
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