While Android Nougat appears to be something for the most elite of Android device users at the moment with usage numbers well below 1%, Google is soldiering on with its efforts to make the world’s most popular mobile platform better. It is doing that by releasing yet another version of Android 7, 7.1.2.
According to Google, Android 7.1.2 is “an incremental maintenance release focused on refinements, so it includes a number of bugfixes and optimizations, along with a small number of enhancements for carriers and users.” That should not fool you into desiring it since you’re stuck on an older version of Android as every Android device user is likely to be.
While there may be hope for some users to get the 7.1.2 update some day, there is totally no hope for those who own the Nexus 6 and the Nexus 9, two devices that already past their obligatory 2-year updates service guarantee. Of course, it goes without saying that the Pixel and Pixel XL, Google’s latest smartphones, will be getting a front row seat when it comes to getting the update while yesteryear champs like the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P and the Pixel C tablet follow along. The oft-forgotten Nexus Player is also getting it.
Time is up!
That is Google’s message to some of its most iconic devices: the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9. The two, a smartphone, and a tablet, were once the ambassadors of Google’s pure Android crusade. However, 2 years down the line (a lifetime in smartphone years), they are no longer the crown jewel of Androidland and while they are still held in high regard in the community, it’s way past their bedtime.
Which is why Google is actually sending them to bed.
The company has confirmed that the two devices won’t be receiving operating system updates that others in their lineup like their able successors, the Nexus 6P and the Nexus 5X, will be getting.
But Google is just sending them to bed not to their deathbeds. The company will still provide them with security patches for at least a year, enough time for their owners to move on to something newer and better.
