Google Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 reached the End of Life (EOL) status back in November of last year. For those wondering, when a phone gets this status, it means it won’t get any official software support from the manufacturer. But the recent Android security patch release says otherwise.
The company rolled out the latest Android security patch for all devices officially on the support list earlier this week. According to the official list, the oldest device that gets the update is the Google Pixel 5a, which launched in August of 2021. However, the two phones before this launch got the update, which is a bit surprising.
What Was the Update for the Google Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 About?
The thing about Android updates is that Google doesn’t offer full details of what they bring. But it’s confirmed that the update is an Android security patch, although it’s not the latest patch. Instead, the update for the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 includes the November 2023 patch.
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What’s more interesting is that the update for the old Google Pixel devices is just 10 MB in size. The lower size, combined with the fact that it doesn’t bring the latest fixes, means one thing. That is, Google is fixing critical security risks or bugs for these two phones.
Google has done a similar thing in the past, bringing security updates for older and unsupported phones. This is to ensure that the users of the old phones don’t get caught up with vulnerabilities. As expected, the update for the unsupported Google Pixel phones doesn’t include any dramatic changes or new features.
Even so, if you’re using the Google Pixel 4a 5G or Pixel 5, you should install the OTA update right away. If you haven’t received it yet, download the official OTA update (link) and install it manually.