Google Pixel updates are too slow
Updates on Google’s Pixel phones are too slow. Before you get your pitchforks, let us explain what we mean. One of the benefits of buying a phone like thethe Google Pixel 7is that you’ll get updates quicker than other flagships. Still, installing them takes too long. Seamless updates are heralded as the best thing to happen to software upgrades, and phones that lack the feature areoften mocked for the omission. But we’re glad Samsung has refused to implement the feature on the newly releasedSamsung Galaxy S23trio.
What are seamless updates?
Seamless updates were introduced with the firstGoogle Pixel smartphonein 2016. Seamless updates use two system partitions that allow it to install a software update while the phone is switched on. That means the device only needs to perform a quick reboot at the end of the process, which takes thirty seconds at the most, instead of being switched off and unusable for a few minutes. Another benefit of seamless updates is protection from incomplete installs, using a slot system.
The Google Pixel 7 gets seamless updates.
When you get a new Pixel, the current version of Android boots up in slot A. When a software update is available, it’s installed in slot B. When the update is complete, the phone reboots, switching to the newly updated slot. If an error occurred during installation, or shortly after, the Pixel can reboot back into slot A, which still houses the un-updated software, until it can safely attempt the update again.
Pretty sweet, right? Most of the time, it is. Updates install automatically, so you don’t have to do anything or experience downtown while the update installs; the phone can reboot itself to finish up when you’re asleep, and you’re protected from bad updates. For most people, this is the best way to deliver an over-the-air update (OTA). These benefits are often spoken about and praised, but there’s a big downside that few ever mention: Seamless updates take ages.
Seamless updates aren’t so seamless
While the phone doesn’t need to be switched off very long to complete the update, but it still takes ages to complete the setup while it is on. Because the Pixel is trying to write a system upgrade to the correct partition, all while keeping the rest of the OS running and smooth so that you can use it, the process happens at a snail’s pace.
How long does this take exactly? Twitter user Dalevon illustrated the issue in July 2022. The update was only 34MB—tiny in the grand scheme of things. After an hour, it was only halfway through the installation. That was a simple security patch, full-fat Android upgrades take even longer.Android 13was a massive update that took over two hours to install on a Google Pixel 4 and 6a.
Why is that an issue? A lot of us love the day a new Android version is released and want to play with it as soon as possible. Do we really want to watch a long movie to pass the time while our phone does the job?
No, seamless updates aren’t available on the new Samsung Galaxy S23
By comparison, Samsung phones and others that don’t use seamless updates get things done quicker, albeit at the expense of having a phone that will not work until the update is complete. Last summer, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra got an update that weighed in at a whopping 1.3GB, significantly larger than the 34MB update that Dalevon’s Pixel 6 took over an hour to install. The Samsung Galaxy S22+, on the other hand, downloaded, installed, and optimized the update in less than six minutes. However, there’s no failed update protection here like you’d get with a Pixel, but we haven’t experienced a failed update on a Samsung device in years, so that isn’t a huge concern.
Google Pixel users can skip the wait if they want to. Just connect the phone to a PC and sideload the OTA file over ADB, skipping the seamless update process and getting things done in a flash. This works well and is awesome to use if you’re installing theAndroid 14 Developer Preview. But why should we have to use a PC to do something the phone should be able to do?
We’re not proposing that Google remove seamless updates. It’s a fantastic feature for most people most of the time, and the phone only being switched off for a few seconds is great. And many would argue that waiting a few hours for an update to install is nothing compared to waiting a few months to get the Android upgrade. But as far as we’re concerned, seamless updates get in the way when you want to try out the latest Android version as quickly as possible.
What we’d like to see
Seamless updates are great for most people, and most of the time, we aren’t in a rush to install the latest security patch. But for big updates, adding an on-device option to skip the wait would be ideal, perhaps a toggle in the developer options. At least this way, people wouldn’t have to wait hours and hours to get the desperately needed bug fix or Android upgrade they’ve been waiting for.
We know this is just a pipe dream. Google is unlikely to commit resources to implement something that would benefit so few users, if something like this is even possible. But we can dream, and unless something like this is implemented, we’ll happily continue enjoying the old-fashioned update process on ourSamsung phones while we still can.
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