[HN Gopher] Pixel 6a gets a mandatory Android update next week w...
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       Pixel 6a gets a mandatory Android update next week with battery
       reduction
        
       Author : leoff
       Score  : 16 points
       Date   : 2025-07-02 19:24 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (9to5google.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (9to5google.com)
        
       | woodson wrote:
       | Sounds like the same farce as with the forced Pixel 4a update.
       | Not sure if they learned anything from that, other than to ignore
       | the issues and move ahead anyway.
        
         | tracker1 wrote:
         | Yeah, that killed my battery... at least it got me a free
         | battery replacement, even though actually getting that locally
         | was a bit of a pain. Couldn't "reserve" or make an appointment
         | ahead. Just call uBreakIFix and if they had one, come in. That
         | Google did the release that broke the batteries after they had
         | recalled all the spares from the fixit companies was really
         | poorly timed.
         | 
         | Still using my 4a, though have been thinking of a switch to the
         | 9XL.
        
         | alnwlsn wrote:
         | I'll have you know I did successfully claim my $50 from that
         | refund program they did for the 4a.
         | 
         | > "enter your sn in this form to see if you qualify"
         | 
         | > enter sn
         | 
         | > "great, you'll hear from us in 2 weeks"
         | 
         | > 2 weeks pass
         | 
         | > "you're eligible! you can either have $50 or $100 towards a
         | new phone"
         | 
         | > just bought a new phone, give me the 50
         | 
         | > "great, you'll hear from us in 2 weeks"
         | 
         | > 2 weeks pass
         | 
         | > "we use a 3rd party to issue refunds, download their app"
         | 
         | > download app
         | 
         | > setup account
         | 
         | > verify account
         | 
         | > enter bank info
         | 
         | > "great, you'll hear from us in 2 weeks"
         | 
         | > 2 weeks pass
         | 
         | > "sorry, we couldn't process your bank info"
         | 
         | > dammit, forgot app password
         | 
         | > recover app account
         | 
         | > re-verify app account
         | 
         | > reenter banking info
         | 
         | > "great, you'll hear from us in 2 weeks"
         | 
         | > 2 weeks pass
         | 
         | > "your bank info is verified. You'll get your refund within 2
         | weeks"
         | 
         | > 2 weeks pass
         | 
         | > money deposited
         | 
         | barely even worth it.
        
           | Spunkie wrote:
           | Alternatively I went with:
           | 
           | > "enter your sn in this form to see if you qualify"
           | 
           | > "Your pixel 4a does not qualify"
           | 
           | But why? Does it mean my battery is unaffected or their
           | lawyers managed to weasel out of all the phones qualifying
           | somehow?
           | 
           | Who knows? Well google certainly knows, but they ain't
           | telling me.
        
       | doublepg23 wrote:
       | The shoddy QC in Pixel devices is bad enough I only recommend
       | Sammy flagships to my Android friends. Doesn't feel like a great
       | choice either with all the adware tbh.
        
       | mchonedev wrote:
       | Oh goodie. My 6a has had terrible battery life (and actually
       | overheated about a month and a half ago while charging) yet my
       | phone doesn't qualify for the replacement for whatever reason.
       | 
       | This is my 3rd google phone in a row with issues:
       | 
       | Nexus 6p - Had to have the battery replaced and then inexplicitly
       | died, dead to the world Pixel 4a - Similar battery issues + a
       | screen that physically fell out of the phone Pixel 6a - Battery
       | woes BEFORE this update in the near future
        
         | alnwlsn wrote:
         | I had a 5A inexplicably develop a crack in the screen literally
         | before my eyes as I was holding it. I watched it propagate from
         | left to right over about 6 seconds. If I hadn't seen it, I
         | would never have believed it.
         | 
         | Not even worth arguing for a warranty at that point. Replaced
         | the screen myself later.
        
       | damnesian wrote:
       | planned obsolecence.
        
       | frou_dh wrote:
       | The dodgy hardware doesn't reflect well on the Google/Pixel
       | brand, that's for sure.
       | 
       | That said, I'm fairly happy with this because my 6a just sits
       | around as an Android test device. Probably only has tens of
       | battery cycles on it and might not ever reach the 400 cycle count
       | where they've deemed this upcoming software nerf needs to kick
       | in. So a free $100 and still keeping the phone is fine by me.
       | 
       | https://i.imgur.com/4wpSMAW.png
        
       | isUserAMonkey wrote:
       | The 4a debacle was enough motivation to make me change teams and
       | buy an iPhone earlier in the year, I opted for the $50 no
       | questions asked cash from Google.
       | 
       | The only real thing I'm missing on the iPhone is Firefox/ublock
       | origin combo.
        
         | 47282847 wrote:
         | Happy user of Orion/Ublock on iOS here. Maybe you want to give
         | that a try.
        
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       (page generated 2025-07-02 23:01 UTC)