I’ve got a bad feeling about that seven-year promise
If you have an older Pixel phone and you’ve been wondering when the newest Pixel features would finally be arriving, I have … news! It might be this week, but probably not. There is no rhyme or reason to Google’s Pixel feature drop, and confusion about features like circle-to-search portends deeper problems. Google made a promise to support its latest Pixel 8 phones for a very long time, and this debacle makes me doubtful that Google will deliver.
This isn’t really about the Pixel Feature Drop, not yet. I have problems with Google’s erratic ‘Feature Drop’ model, but the most important thing Google did for phones this year was its promise to support the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro for seven years from when they launched. That’s unprecedented in the phone world. Apple supports its iPhone models for five years, and it offered the longest support until Google stepped up.
Of course, Apple has been supporting five-year-old phones for more than a decade, while this longevity promise is new for Android makers like Google and Samsung. Apple has a proven track record. Until the Pixel 8 gets its final OS update in 2031 and the Galaxy S24 in 2032, we won’t know if Google and Samsung can truly deliver on the seven year promise, or what that delivery will look like.If Google is going to beat the best, it needs to be the best
In the meantime, I’m watching for Google to follow Apple’s pattern. Apple has reliably updated its phones every year, so if Google is going to match or beat Apple’s promise, it will need to match its practices.
The iPhone XR from 2018 got the latest IOS 17.4 update recently. It also got iOS 17, iOS 16, and iOS 15 on the day those operating systems were offered. There is no delay for older iPhone models.
