Google’s Pixel C, the last first-party Android tablet released all the way back in December of 2015, may have just stopped getting monthly security patches. There has been no official announcement, and device-specific delays have happened before, but the Pixel C wasn’t among those that received today’s July set of updates, and the precise timing is awfully suspicious.
Although Google does not list the Pixel C on its update schedule help page, the company does note when discussing Pixel phones that they “get security updates for at least 18 months from when the Google Store last sold the device.” Google’s Pixel C was last sold on the Play Store in December 2017, which is about 18 months ago.
Google hasn’t published a specific expiration date when it comes to the Pixel C’s software support lifetime, but the absence this month (which we honestly didn’t notice at first) is conspicuous given how well it fits into the expected timeline. The Nexus 5X and 6P only lasted a single month after their EOL dates passed.
We’ve reached out to Google for additional information or confirmation that the update period has explicitly ended, but none was forthcoming at the time of publication. If it is the end, 2015 to 2019 is a pretty good run for the much-forgotten Android tablet.
At least there’s always LineageOS — though you’re still just looking at Android 8.0 Oreo.
- Thanks:
- Matt