Google has forcefully updated everyone's Pixel 4a with their new battery of death update, which destroys the phone's battery life to near zero. Now it looks like they are preparing to factory reset and wipe people's phones who are not cooperating.
In my case and many others, they are refusing to replace batteries, and most batteries are out of stock worldwide. They are telling people to buy a new Pixel with a tiny credit. Many haven't got their small perks at all. Google is not compensating as they said they would be Here is my experience where they permanently destroyed my phone and offered no help: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42871613
Note: This has not been officially confirmed by Google yet, but with the Pixel 4a battery update fiasco that kills the battery, it may be true and this was not supposed to be leaked.
Hi, I'm not sure if you've saw it but not only is the battery is close to dead but the charging is super slow and it struggles to work plugged in. So I cannot use it well. The only option will to get a new phone, but it's been taking a toll on me.
I am not looking to be a charity case. I'm just flustered at what Google did. Something that never happened in history, without warning, ending my phone.
This isn't about an old device, it's just a few years old (2020, on Android 13). I understand that things break, but this is not about that. It's how Google lied to users about the update, then the update wrecking their phones to a point where it doesn't work. If my phone were to have naturally been destroyed then I get it, I have to move on.
I'm sure a lot of people have Pixels here, if all of a sudden it is forced to update, and the phone becomes unusable, would you not be angry? What if Microsoft forcefully updated and made all processors around 2018 bricked? I've browsed here so much and everyone loves to use old and cheap CPUs for their crafts which are beautiful here. I'm sure many people use old phones for many reasons as well, such as mobile servers, gadgets, etc. The Pixel 4a was a budget phone and perfect for those who want a phone with a headphone jack and that just works. Pixel 4a was also one of the phones used for many Android projects.
At this point I just want to tell people on here what Google did and let people know that this can happen to your phone at any time. Hopefully you are all prepared as Pixel 5/6 have been having battery issues as well and a forced update might be coming for that. I hope everyone is prepared.
Your reply is completely uncalled for. I hope you're able to get professional help for whatever it is in your life that drove you to be this callous toward someone.
It can be really hard to understand why people do what they do. But I do know from personal experience that shelter insecurity is one of those pervasive stressors that makes everything difficult.
Maybe their phone getting screwed up was the proverbial last straw. Now, instead of a calm, considered approach, they're fighting exhaustion and panic while trying to problem solve.
But no matter what their circumstances, being vile toward them is unwarranted.
If anyone can post this on Reddit, on the pixel4a and GooglePixel subreddit, I would appreciate it. Reddit auto bans new accounts and I can't post. Google has no more stock for their batteries, and people are left in the dark...
My files on my Pixel 4a are very important, and the battery barely lasts so even upgrading wouldn't work, it will surely mess up, and I am scared to lose or screw anything up with the phone. I also heard that doing anything weird like this can brick your phone. I also have bank apps that do not work on anything else apparently.
I wish Google would have told the truth so I had time to prepare. Luckily the news sites now are talking about how the update made the phone bust and Google has no batteries right now.
If someone can post this on the pixel4a and GooglePixel subreddit on Reddit I would be grateful as reddit is thinking I am a bot. I would hope Google fixes this issue for everyone, as I know there are many people like me in the same predicament.
Thank you for your help, but what primary concerns me is my phone. It has all my files and important stuff, power banks can't help this phone as the battery is diminished incredibly low. I can go to the library for things like these so it's okay.
I thank you again but this is all on Google. Pixel 4a was such a good phone for me and it's meant for the poor like. I don't know why they did this. I just want my phone back. So many people who lost their jobs can't afford to buy a new phone.
I've been to many religious places and they've been very helpful. But this is more of a phone issue... I just want my phone back. I don't want a new phone... I've never heard of this ever happening ever.
You keep saying how important your files are but you need to have them backed up in a cloud. Your life cannot end because you wake up one morning and your phone stops booting.
Well excuse me but a few people offered real solutions including free devices. Nope this guy wants his google pixel with 3 hours of battery life (lol) back.
The files aren't the only issues, it's that now I have to buy a new phone for no reason. It was working perfectly. I can't even buy a used Pixel 4a as all the phones now have the update of death.
I am backing up data, or trying my best to. It's just now I have to buy a new phone because Google can't help me even though they said they would. I don't keep everything on the cloud, not something I trust.
For those who are unaware, Google released a forced update on the Pixel 4a that depleted the battery, and is not usable. They offered a battery replacement but they are all out of batteries and there are still issues so many people cannot get it replaced. Google is not helping and telling people to buy a new phone.
It's kinda insane that they can't do a "undo last commit; git push; tell the CI/CD to push a new OS release" procedure. But there's a probably Fight-Club-esque math (1) there that make it "If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.".
Congrats Google, your procedures have made you an overweight gorilla that isn't agile enough...
