Google forces Pixel 4a battery update even on blocked devices – Phandroid
Google just pushed a Pixel 4a battery update that users thought they’d blocked, and users are mad. If you’ve been following this saga, you’ll know Google first throttled the Pixel 4a and 6a with software updates that limit charging and performance to avoid battery swelling.
These updates were supposedly “mandatory.” However, some savvy users figured out how to block them by disabling auto-installs via Developer Options. Well, that workaround doesn’t work anymore.
Over the past couple of days, Pixel 4a owners who had successfully avoided the update suddenly found their phones had upgraded anyway. Reddit threads from users confirm that even with auto-install disabled, the update got through. We still don’t know how Google bypassed that setting. But the company clearly wasn’t bluffing when it said the update was non-negotiable.
The point of the Pixel 4a battery update was to prevent old, degraded batteries from causing fires. Makes sense in theory. But in practice, people are upset about losing performance. Especially when they hadn’t noticed any battery issues in the first place.
It’s worth noting the performance throttling only kicks in after a certain number of charge cycles, and yes, it can be reversed if you replace the battery. Still, that’s not the point. What’s getting under people’s skin is the idea that even with developer controls in place, Google forced the update through anyway.
If you’ve been holding onto your Pixel 4a, this might finally be the push you need to upgrade.
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