Android isn’t ideal for anyone who likes software updates, but being the owner a Pixel phone certainly helps. If you purchase the Pixel 3, you’ll be taken care of until 2021. In a support document, Google confirmed its latest flagship will get software updates for the next three years.
It’s an improvement over what Google’s promised in the past. Normally, we saw Pixel and Nexus devices keep up for two years. The Pixel 3, however, treats owners to a third year. That’ll take owners of the flagship from Pie to Android Q, Android R, and Android S.
Here’s the diagram laying out what you need to know:
The Pixel 2 will also get software updates for three years from its release. With that said, there are still two more years for the 2017 flagship to remain current.
As for other Pixel and Nexus devices, we’re starting to see some older models drop off into the abyss. While the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P are at the end of the road, the Pixel from 2016 might not get any system upgrades beyond this month. Even today, Google can’t match Apple’s excellent when it comes to software updates.
Google made a promise, and now we’ll see how well it sticks with that. But it’d be nice if Android partners showed a similar interest in rolling out software updates on a consistent, long-term basis as well. Now we’re in for another cycle of the newest version of Android never becoming the most popular.
