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System Update?

J

Jacques Wegier

Newbie
Hello, I got my new Pixel 4a two days ago. This is my first Android smartphone and I am still learning the way Android does things and unlearning the iOS way.

It is only by pure chance that while browsing the different settings, I got to > System > Advanced and there at the very bottom of the Advanced screen, it surprised me to see the last item is System Update > System Update available (Android 11)

Before getting deep down into the settings, I did not see any sign that a system update was available. Nothing visible on the System icon on my home screen to make me aware that something new is available for the system.

Did I miss something? I am still on Android 10 and before I update to 11; can somebody tell me where is and how looks the hint about an available update, so when a future update is available, I will be better aware.

Thank you very much.
 
i do not have your phone, but there should be a toggle to turn on or off automatic updates. on my note 10+ i have that option under settings>system update>automatic updates. in your settings do a search for automatic updates and see what pops up.
 
With a Pixel you may as well just check for an update on the first Tuesday of each month, because that's when you'll get them.

I can't remember what update notifications look like because I always check manually before the system gets round to telling me. At some point it will pop up a notification, but I can't remember the last time I left it long enough to do that. It's possible that checking the menu yourself triggered it to check for the update, which is why you hadn't seen a notification about it.
 
Google is a little sneaky about this. Prior to the Pixel line, system updates used to roll out incrementally so only certain devices could get the updates at any given time. Now the updates are available to everyone when they are made public for a specific model, but they are incrementally rolling out the notifications. Since most people don't stay on top of day-1 updates, they usually only update when they get the notification -- which will be a pop-up when you unlock the phone and then remain as a persistent notification until you update or dismiss it.

It solves a lot of problems. First, those people who need or want it right away, like developers and nerds, there is no waiting any longer. And, instead of being bombarded with support questions of "when am I getting the update?" from a bazillion nerds, anyone who wants it can get it. But by not notifying everyone right away, it doesn't bog down distribution servers. There was also a problem of others packaging the updates and posting them publicly for those not on the first distribution list to update manually. The problem there is that the updates once out of Google's control might not include the latest features or fixes, and could break possible future updates. It also prevents any malicious actors from inserting nasty things in the update code.

While there are some interesting feature updates in 11, as a new Android user, you probably won't notice them. I'd just go ahead and update to 11.
 
Jacques Wegier said:
I guess I have mistakenly dismissed the notification.
Click to expand...

That's not hard to do, considering the number of notifications we get. Just be careful about confirmation prompts. It's also easy to turn off notifications permanently for an app when all you want to do is dismiss it one time. We constantly get the "why did I stop getting notifications from [app]?" questions and it's almost always this.
 
PitCarver said:
My wife has the Pixel 2 and updated to 11. She really hasn't noticed any changes.
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Funny, because there's a really visible one: when you pull down the notification slide a second time to get the full quick settings controls it only gives you the same 6 it shows in the notifications view (except now 3x2 rather than 3x1), whereas previously you got 9. I still haven't worked out why they did this, since I see no gain at all from it but a clear loss.

But that's Google: for a company who employ a lot of smart people they are sometimes do surprisingly stupid things.

Others are more subtle: the "history" button at the bottom of the notifications, small theme differences, some additional privacy tweaks (I think the "ask every time" for location is new, for example - the trouble with having been on the beta programme is that it gave me longer to forget what changed when). But that change to the quick settings is really in your face for me (especially since it means I now have to pull down twice and then swipe sideways to get the flashlight, which I don't need in the top 6 but which I use often enough that it was useful to have on the expanded quick settings, which no longer actually merit that name).
 
Hadron said:
I still haven't worked out why they did this, since I see no gain at all from it but a clear loss.
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I think it was to make room for the new (optionally-persistent) media control panel, but it seems silly to still reduce the number of visible tiles even when the media controls aren't present.
 
codesplice said:
I think it was to make room for the new (optionally-persistent) media control panel, but it seems silly to still reduce the number of visible tiles even when the media controls aren't present.
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Well my Pixel 2 reduces the number of notifications it shows in order to make space for a notch that it doesn't have, so Google have form in this respect...
 
Hadron said:
Well my Pixel 2 reduces the number of notifications it shows in order to make space for a notch that it doesn't have, so Google have form in this respect...
Click to expand...
Just wait until they shift the notifications to the right to make room for the 4a's camera cutout ;)
 
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