At the risk of sounding too much like an old-timer, kids these days are so lucky. Okay, maybe that’s a bit broad — let me narrow it down. When smartphones first hit the market, software updates weren’t really a priority the way it is now. You’d buy a phone and either accept it as it was, or take to rooting it so you could install custom ROMs. The exception to the rule of updates has always been Apple and its iPhones, which have long been the kings of long-term software support.

These days, many OEMs are doing a much better job of supporting their devices; it’s what separates good Android phones from the best ones. Still, no one has done this to the degree of Apple, with its unofficial minimum of five years of iOS updates — and, often, much more. However, if rumors are true, the upcoming Pixel 8 series getting seven years of OS updates could put us on the cusp of something truly great.

It’s been a long road to this point

Long gone are the days when the only people who bought Android phones were uber nerds. While you can still tinker around with Android, performing many of the custom software tweaks that have been around for years, the OS has matured so much so now that many of the reasons to root your phone are unnecessary. It’s been fifteen years since the T-Mobile G1 came out and introduced the world to Android, but it wasn’t until Google began selling its “developer phones” under the Nexus brand that you could even expect at least two OS updates.

These days, Samsung has been leading the charge in long-term support for its Galaxy line of smartphones, with four years of Android upgrades and five years of security patches. Not only has the OEM been providing solid support for the phones, but it’s also gotten much faster at updating. The company’s One UI 6 beta, based on Android 14, has been available for the Galaxy S23 series for weeks now. It wasn’t very long ago that Samsung was one of the worst offenders for updating its phones over time or swiftly, but these days, it often beats Google to the monthly security patch punch.

While not all Android OEMs are at the same level as Samsung for OS support or security updates, brands like OnePlus have greatly stepped up efforts to provide a better software experience for its phones. These changes in Android update offerings are fantastic, and at this point, should be expected by users. Perhaps the most surprising fact is the company in charge of developing Android as an OS isn’t the best at software updates for its own lineup of phones. But when Google taks the stage on October 4, that could be changing.

That’s the day the company will show off the Pixel 8 series for the first time, and if rumors are true, it could represent a big turning point for Android’s rivalry with iOS. Aside from improved performance, new camera sensors, and software features that will arrive with Android 14, we’ve got our fingers crossed that the rumored seven years of OS updates will end up a reality. This move would make Pixel phones the longest-supported devices around, even potentially beating Apple depending on the device. Seven OS upgrades is almost unthinkable in today’s landscape — it would mean a new Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro would get Android 21. That’s wild!

This would be a big pro-consumer move, pairing impressive specs like the upcoming Google Tensor G3 processor with years of promised support. Part of what makes Apple so good at software updates is how it controls everything that has to do with its phones, from the chipsets powering it to the underlying operating system and everything in between. So, when it wants to roll out new versions of iOS, it knows exactly what devices can and cannot support the software.

Google has slowly been getting to that point for Pixel phones since the Pixel 6 and its custom Tensor processor — that’s when the company first promised five years of security patches alongside three Android upgrades. Now, as it reaches the third iteration of its SoC, it seems Google is finally mastering its update schedule (give or take the occasional delay). Still, it’s worth considering what kind of shape will a phone even be in after seven years?

Can a phone realistically last seven years?

When I say “shape,” I’m not talking about form factors here — the folding phones revolution might be here, but that’s another concern altogether. Rather, what kind of condition would a new smartphone be in come 2030? For most of the people in my life, it takes just one year for their phone to be scratched up, complete with cracked glass on the front or back and ports full of dust and gunk. That’s to say nothing about the battery, either — after seven years of charge cycles, you’ll be lugging a portable battery around everywhere you go.

Putting wear and tear aside, there are still far too many people who simply want to upgrade their device to whatever shiny new thing just hit the market. Not to mention the carriers, which make it easier than ever to get your hands on the latest phone. It’s also worth considering if seven years of support is overkill. It’s possible the Pixel 8 experience won’t hold up in 2030, the same way you wouldn’t want to use a first-gen Pixel from 2016 today.

Will these updates make a difference in device retention? Only time will tell, but I really hope so. Smartphones and the components within create huge amounts of waste, impacting the environment in some pretty massive ways. So, by removing the software FOMO, users could be tempted to hang onto their devices longer. But for that to be an option, reparability — both by consumers and professionals — needs to ramp up significantly as well. It’s not enough for brands like Fairphone to go at this alone.

Thankfully, right-to-repair has been getting a lot of traction in the past few years, and some states in the US are beginning to require access to parts so that phones can get fixed. However, just because parts are available to repair a phone, it doesn’t mean that the average person can actually make the fix or will want to, especially with devices becoming more complex and expensive to repair — just look at the Pixel Fold. Samsung is taking the approach of not only offering repairs in its own stores but also partnering with repair facilities, like uBreakiFix, to help extend the life of its phones.

It’s not perfect, but a win is a win

Smartphones have become a nearly essential part of people’s lives, and for many, getting a new phone is a nightmare. The idea of having to set up a new phone from scratch, even taking into account the ability to transfer data from an old device to a new one, is more of a headache than anything else to plenty of people. Users still need to log into accounts and make tweaks to make the phone feel like before. While major software updates can induce some of those tasks on an existing device, it’s much less jarring than starting over. This is where long-term software support can really help out.

The idea of keeping a phone for seven years may seem like a long time, but for those of us who like sticking to a single device, it’s a dream come true — assuming the device is taken care of and can physically survive that long. Regardless of whether you’re an early adopter or someone who wants to hold onto a phone for as long as possible, this kind of OS update schedule seems like a win-win for everyone. Even those who like swapping phones can look forward to a booming market of used or refurbished phones, pairing reliability with improved resale value. While there are still plenty of wrinkles to work out, should the Pixel 8’s upgrade support be true, ultimately, we’re looking at a big win for the entire mobile industry.

• Source: Google

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• Source: Google

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