Older Pixel smartphones may be left behind as a brand new Android 16 characteristic heads to newer Google gadgets.
Google seems set to roll out a hotly anticipated Battery Well being menu as a part of Android 16 for Pixel telephones – however solely these launched previously yr or so.
The brand new Battery Well being menu has been cropping up in Android code for a while now, earlier than showing in full as a part of the Android 16 Beta 3.
It guarantees to supply a useful breakdown of how a lot a telephone’s battery cell has degraded with use and time – a facility that Apple’s iPhone vary has provided for years.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
When questioned on Google’s Difficulty Tracker why this characteristic wasn’t displaying up on older Pixel gadgets – and by ‘older’ we imply as much as and together with the Google Pixel 8 Professional, launched in late 2023 – a Google consultant responded with the next:
“The Battery Well being Indicator characteristic is at the moment supported in Beta 3 on Pixel 8a and Pixel 9 merchandise together with 9 Professional Fold. Attributable to product limitations, this characteristic won’t be accessible on older in-market Pixel gadgets.”
This doesn’t fully preclude the brand new Battery Well being menu showing on older Pixel gadgets in some unspecified time in the future. Google’s response was particularly in relation to the Android 16 beta, not the complete launch.
Nevertheless, the phrase “this characteristic won’t be accessible on older in-market Pixel gadgets” comes with the implication that the corporate isn’t trying any again additional than the Google Pixel 8a, which launched simply over a yr in the past.
Would it not be unusual and deeply annoying if Google’s last-gen entry mannequin packed a brand new UI characteristic that its ‘Professional’ huge brother, working on the identical chip, didn’t? You wager it will.