Pixel 4a owners wake to forced 'battery performance update' after dodging for half a year

Pixel 4a users who thought they had successfully avoided Google’s controversial battery update found themselves on the wrong side of Android’s persistence this week. After months of dismissing update notifications and using developer mode tricks to keep the update at bay, many owners woke up to discover their devices had been forcibly updated overnight to the dreaded “S2” firmware that significantly impacts battery performance.

The forced rollout appears to have happened around midnight PT on July 20, catching even the most update-resistant users off guard. Reddit user “crazed98camaro” summed up the collective frustration, posting that despite running developer mode with disabled auto-downloads since the update first appeared, they woke up to find their phone had been updated anyway. The telltale sign? A battery replacement notification that signals the controversial changes have taken effect.

This is the same controversial battery update that we’ve been tracking for months. As we reported earlier, the Pixel 4a’s battery update has proven particularly problematic, with users experiencing up to a 44% reduction in battery capacity after the patch is applied.

Not it seems Google finally ran out of patience with holdout users. While the company had been sending daily update reminders for months, many Pixel 4a owners had found ways to defer the installation through developer settings or simply by dismissing notifications. This game of digital cat and mouse finally ended when Google decided to bypass user preferences entirely.

Of course, it’s not surprising since Google made it clear from the beginning that this would be a forced update. Any Pixel 4a that still hasn’t received the update will get it as soon as it’s connected to the internet. So, unless you plan on using your Pixel 4a without an internet connection going forward, your device will bag the update whether you like it or not.

Google’s justification for these aggressive tactics centers around battery safety. The company is offering compensation for affected users, including free battery replacements, $100 cash payments, or $150 credit toward new Pixel devices. But for many longtime Pixel 4a owners, the forced update feels like a betrayal of trust that may drive them away from Google’s hardware ecosystem entirely.

That said, it’s better to be safe rather than sorry. So for a company like Google, it’s better to take precautionary measures rather than have Pixel 4a’s start exploding or catching fire out of the blue. But it’s still not a good look for the company, especially considering the fact that the Pixel 4a isn’t the only outlier.

Google also announced a similar battery performance program for the Pixel 6a. This is the same device that randomly caught fire when a user was asleep as we highlighted back in December last year. Like I said, it’s better to be on the safer side instead of risking it.

Feel free to share your thoughts on this whole fiasco in the comments section below.