Two months behind schedule, but better late than never
While we all eagerly await the arrival of the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro next month, Google is finally saying goodbye to two of its most important phones. The Pixel 3a kicked off a lineup of incredible budget picks, bringing back the affordability of legacy Nexus devices while delivering on the camera quality most would expect from anything Pixel-branded. It received its last guaranteed update in May, but Google promised one final patch would arrive by July. Although it’s a little later than promised, new software is finally rolling out.
As is tradition, the Pixel 3a is receiving its final update today, delivering September’s round of security fixes and other last-minute patches before saying goodbye for good. Technically, this release is late — two months late, in fact, as the company initially announced a July date for this particular drop. Although Google did deliver on a VoLTE fix back in June, that was explicitly not the final patch for the Pixel 3a, which we’re seeing today.
Final patches have become a tradition for Google, as the company waits for a month or two after discontinuing regular software support to ensure any final surprise bugs are dealt with. The Pixel 3 and 3 XL went through a similar process earlier this year, and today, it’s the 3a’s turn.
The Pixel 3a no doubt deserves to be mourned. Although Google has made great strides with its midrange lineup of smartphones — the Pixel 6a is one of our favorite budget phones of the year — it all started with a couple of spin-off models back in 2019. AP’s Jules Wang did a fantastic job of memorializing the Pixel 3a earlier this year in a piece well worth checking out if you haven’t already. No matter how excellent future Google devices are, there will always be something special about this first entry in the A-series.
If you’re still rocking a Pixel 3a or 3a XL, you can grab the files for today’s final patch from Google’s official website. Don’t expect Android 13, of course — it’s still running on Android 12L, just as it was back in May. For anyone patient enough to wait for an OTA update, it should be making its way out to both phones shortly.
