It feels like only yesterday we wrote about potential plans for Google to roll out critical system updates through the Google Play Store mechanism rather than the separate System Updates process. Well, Google is moving forward with that – there are reports around the web that updates are already flowing this way.
Android Police is reporting that Pixel users who are running the Android Q beta 2 are noticing the new update notification, which appears as below.
Tapping on the update doesn’t seem to do anything yet, but soon after the update is completed, Pixel phones automatically restart much in the same way as Windows 10 updates on a laptop or desktop.
We don’t have a clear picture of exactly how these updates work just yet, or how it offers anything better than the existing system update process. It’s also unclear whether the process will extend to non-Google hardware.
Given that the treble update process has been adopted by other OEMs though, it seems likely that this new update mechanism will at least become available to other OEMs, whether or not they choose to adopt it is something else.
