Unbelievable! Google denies Pixel 4a users the chance to escape disastrous update

Unfortunately, the blows to Pixel fans seem to continue. Now, a Reddit user noticed that Google has removed all of the firmware images for the Pixel 4a. And that here is very strange.

Google previously kept almost three years' worth of firmware updates for the Pixel 4a, including its out-of-the-box Android 10 update or its end-of-life Android 13 update. This practice is standard for Google, and as noted by the Reddit user, you are even able to get some ancient Android 2 images for some Nexus phones...

But nothing other than the dreaded 'battery killer' update for the Pixel 4a is available at this moment. Right now, you can only get the January 2025 surprise battery update (TQ3A.230805.001.S2).

Google removing old firmware for the Pixel 4a is suspicious. For such a drastic measure to make sense, there should be something deeply problematic with the update in question, like a hardbrick bug. What could have been the big issue with the firmware (all of it) of the Pixel 4a to warrant such a dramatic move? We may never know, as Google has not announced any reason for it.

Users who haven't gotten the terrible Pixel 4a update are trying to avoid it, blocking network requests or looking to downgrade to the previous end-of-life update. However, these users won't have this option anymore now that the firmware has been removed.

Unfortunately, Pixel 4a users might be tempted to download from rehosted links - which is a very bad idea, as this firmware may be tampered with, and doing that is generally discouraged. So, Google has now abandoned Pixel 4a users in an impossible-to-fix situation.

The Pixel 4a is a mid-range phone that was released in 2020, and according to many users, it was functional and reliable until the dreaded update. The phone still powers on after the update, but its battery doesn't last nearly as long as would be needed for reliability - for some, it lasts (barely!) half an hour of screen-on time, which is outrageous.

Sadly, this scenario seems to me like planned obsolescence, something like the batterygate on iPhones, that Apple is now bitterly paying for. If that's true, it would be a poorly executed, quite obvious move... leaving Pixel fans frustrated and ready to abandon their beloved brand for good (and planning a lawsuit in the meantime).

The Pixel 4a story so far

Earlier this month, Google's surprise announcement promised that the Pixel 4a would have improved battery performance stability after the update. In the announcement, users were warned that it might shorten battery life. However, the impact was more than slightly shorter battery life, and some of the ill-fated users had to see their beloved Pixel 4a become almost unusable after the update.

Basically, the new update caused the Pixel 4a battery to drain unbelievably fast, with some users reporting the phone that could once easily last a day now lasts mere hours. Furious Pixel fans took to Reddit to express their frustrations about the not-so-subtle ruining of an older device using software.

Google offered free battery replacements to affected users or a $100 discount for a new phone. However, this isn’t ideal given that people were forced to fix everything wrong with their phone during the replacement (and to pay for fixing any of those unfortunate discoveries), while the discount, well… you’ll still need to cough up at least $399 to upgrade to a new Google phone.