Verizon has earned itself a golden star today by announcing that it won’t delay system updates to the Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL, both of which will be supported by the network and sold at its stores at the October 20 launch.
This is a big deal when you consider how poorly things went with the carrier’s twist on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. While other carriers pushed updates straight to the unlocked version of the phone, Verizon’s patch testing and verification process delayed them by months at a time.
In a statement to Ars Technica, Verizon broke it down: “"First and foremost, all operating system and security updates to the Pixel devices will happen in partnership with Google. In other words, when Google releases an update, Verizon phones will receive the same update at the same time (much like iOS updates). Verizon will not stand in the way of any major updates and users will get all updates at the same time as Google.”
Ars provides further detail that could be the real reason behind the timely updates: Verizon’s Pixels are unlocked, just like the ones you can purchase through the Google Store. Compared to the GSM or CDMA-specific treatment we saw done with previous Nexus phones, you can hop back and forth between carriers if you please with a Pixel purchased through Verizon, or even give Google’s own Project Fi a go.
- Via Android Police
