Google Pixel guaranteed Android O and Android P updates

Your Google Pixel or Pixel XL may be further from the end of its support cycle than you thought — if you're used to Android releases, that is.

Google's premium smartphone will not get any more major updates after next year, announcing on its support page that the last guaranteed Android version update will be October 2018.

This means that after the release of Android O later this year, Pixel users can expect at least one more guaranteed major update (Android P) before things go up in the air.

Additionally, Pixel users will no longer be guaranteed access to the handset's on-device tech support, or receive regular security updates, after October 2019.

It's important to note that Google is only announcing the latest it can guarantee further support, meaning that further updates (Android Q?) could still be compatible. That said, Android isn't (currently) known for catching up to older devices, so don't hold your breath

De-Pixelated

For those not ready to replace their top-shelf phone less than a year since it came out, the Pixel and Pixel XL's remaining two-plus years of support mean it'll be quite some time before you'll feel the "age" of your smartphone.

That said, while the Pixel and Pixel XL have relatively longer support lifespan than a lot of other Android phones, ask any iPhone owner what they think of a phone released last year already hitting a wall with software support, and they might not be as pleased.

At the time of writing, the four-year-old iPhone 5S is still receiving major updates like this year's iOS 11, making Google's smartphone look a little bad considering its first real major update post-launch, Android O, could also be its penultimate one.

Thankfully, with the help Google's recently announced Project Treble program, Android updates should be a much faster process going forward, so Pixel owners can rest easy knowing ample good times with their phone await before it becomes obsolete.

Via Android Central