What’s the over-under that more tracking software is urging along on this update?
this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2025
106 points (100.0% liked)
Google Pixel
6814 readers
5 users here now
The World's Google Pixel community!
This community is for lemmings to gather and discuss all things related to the Google Pixel phone and other related hardware. Feel free to ask questions, seek advice, and engage in discussions around the Pixel and its ecosystem.
We ask you to be polite when addressing others and respect Lemmy.world's rules.
NSFW content is not allowed and will immediately get you banned.
It also goes without saying that self-promotion of any nature and referral links are not allowed. When in doubt, contact the mod team first.
Also, please, no politics.
For more general Android discussions, see [email protected].
This community is not in any way affiliated with Google. If you are looking for customer support regarding your Pixel phone, look here instead: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
also recommending battery replacement for aged batteries inside the device they glue the damn battery down too making it stupidly difficult to replace.
I don't like that everything is glued together either but it's also not that difficult to replace. Nor that expensive to have it replaced.
My tinfoil hat theory is that this is planned obsolescence through and through.
I used to accept that lithium batteries degrade fast and that's just a fact of life, nothing we can do, no reason to blame phone manufacturers.
Then I realized my GameBoy Advance SP uses a lithium battery. So does my Steam Deck. And several cheap Chinese devices I bought... And every single one of these batteries massively outlast the durability of all phones I've ever had, and they age much more graciously.
Do you use those other devices from full to low battery every day?
Yes. More often than the phones, especially the Steam Deck, a device that places SIGNIFICANTLY more stress on the battery. The GBA not so much nowadays... but used to, yes.
I do wonder how much heat affects the batteries in steam decks. Phones have passive heat dissipation.
Significant % of the reason for sure
GrapheneOS dosent have this
Also, even if you batt becomes a spicy pillow, you might just replace it via ifixit for like 50€
iFixit (at least the US site) has been out of stock for Pixel 6a batteries for a few months now. I started looking when news of this update was coming down the line. Anyone got a dfferent suggestion than iFixit in the meantime?
They're supposedly offering free battery replacements.
https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/16340779?hl=en
If your Pixel 6a is an Impacted Device, you may be eligible for a battery replacement at no charge. You can visit our registration page to find a battery replacement option near you.
If you get the battery replacement will it stop limiting battery capacity and charging speeds? I'm guessing not.
Mine was already previously refurbished and ineligible for the program, which is why I'm seeking out another option, sadly. I already checked.
I've used batteriesplus, but it's been a few years since I've needed a replacement so I don't know if they're in stock.
What a crock
What, a company supporting hardware that any other company would consider EoL?
Lithium batteries have a limited lifespan, and there's no way around it. Limiting the voltage range can extend the lifespan of near-dead batteries for a while, but at the expense of capacity.
Its the users job to replace aging components, not the manifacturer. The manifacturers should only make them necessary components availible and (like in this case) reimbursh the users for the parts.
Also, since not every phone is affected by this it would have been more feasable to place a switch in the settings if you habe Batt problems, since they themselves aknowledge you can just change there battery to solve the issue
I had Pixel 4a, then 6a and now 8a. I got the $50 cash rebate for 4a and apparently they're offering $100 for 6a. Basically free money as I'm not affected by the issue as I don't use the old devices anymore. But it probably won't take long until some battery issue in 8a is announced too..
I'm confused about the cash rebate. Does Payoneer charge $30/yr for the service? Did they ask you for your SSN?
No. I remember the account creation being pretty convoluted tho, requiring confirming email and phone number and setting up security questions (like it's 2005, not 2025)
My wife had an affected phone. Her battery life was fucked.
Took the store voucher off 150usd and got a 9a. It's a decent phone... But not as much better to justify the upgrade
When this happened to my 4a I considered a used 6a as an upgrade - glad I didn't!
Laughs in LineageOS
Wait - how is Lineage supposed to mitigate this, though? It's running on the same hardware.
It's a Google update. Lineage doesn't do Google updates.
The whole point is that it's not safe to run it without the update, so that's actually a minus.
never had a lithium battery explode due to old age. So, that's a myth.
And I've never died from Covid so that also must be a lie.
Mate has never seen a spicy pillow in his life. And above all, it's not just age, it's defective batteries.
I have infact seen spicy pillows in my life and replaced the battery. And above all, if the battery is defective then the company has to bear the cost of replacement or explain why they sold products that can explode.
instead you seem to indicate it's perfectly normal for the company to reduce battery life as if its their god given right to rip off customers like that.
But they did offer refunds?
Oh, it's one of those battery overheating issues. Again, seriously?
Yes, batteries get old
If you take the update notes at face value, doesn’t that imply that you might be at risk of battery overheating?
Samsung phones exploding anyone…
Not all phones are affected. How can you tell which?
Can, they just say some in that. Maybe there is a serial number search for a specific range? Idk.
More battery issues? Seriously? I feel like this is common with these devices now, apparently.
Unsure, but yeah. I mean we drive these devices pretty hard, and the companies are trying to make them thinner all the time, pack more hours of life more performance faster charging. None of that is really great for battery health.
I always run my battery between 30% at the low end and 80% at the high end and it automatically stops charging at 80% and I have an alert set to tell me when it's done and I have another alert set to notify me when it gets below 30% at which point I plug it in.
Nice! A solid strategy for long life!