Google is helping you get your Android updates faster than ever

It's likely that there are few buttons in Android mashed quite so repeatedly as the Check for update one in the System updates section of Settings - especially when a brand new version of Android has just been pushed out into the world.

Well, the update checking experience is going to get a lot less frustrating in the future, because thanks to an update to Google Play Services, this button is now much more effective at getting you your updated software, according to Google's Elliott Hughes.

Before, it would only initiate a download if your phone was in the current roll-out group; now, it helps you jump the queue, so if an update is available for your phone, it'll start downloading even if Google's staged roll-out hasn't got very far.

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That might seem like a minor difference - and Hughes points out that it won't help you get updates if your network operator has restricted them - but it should help speed up the roll-out process and get more people up to date more quickly. Because it's tied to Google Play, it works irrespective of which version of Android you're on.

The change is mostly but not exclusively for Pixel and Nexus devices, though there's no reason why the likes of Samsung and LG wouldn't put it into place too, Hughes notes (though you'll still have to wait for them to fiddle with changes to Google's stock Android release first).

It's good news for users and means there's now less of a need for the impatient among us to get involved with flashing or sideloading an over-the-air update - a quick tap on the update button should start the download process, if new code is available.