Can you safely download the next Android 14 update if you have a Google Pixel smartphone?
The term “bricking” in cyber security usually refers to malware that has corrupted the smartphone’s operating system. However, what if the operating system has self-destructed and you become the threat actor without realizing it? The last 24 hours have been widespread warnings on the internet where update a Google Pixel or Fold smartphone up to the latest Android 14 version will result in randomly bricking the device. Is true?
What exactly are Google Pixel & Fold users being warned about?
The warnings that have appeared online are related to the new Android 14 Quarterly Platform Release 3 Beta 2 version of the smartphone operating system. QPR releases are a regular calendar entry, as the name suggests, with major feature updates for Android users every quarter. After the release of Android 14 QPR3 Beta 2, developers and journalists discovered that the installation caused Google Pixel and Fold smartphones to lock up at the stage of displaying the Google logo, effectively deviating the device. For example, in 9to5Google It found that “three devices, including the Pixel 8 Pro and Fold” were blocked after the update.
As with all these reports, the devil is in the details. Unfortunately, as with many discussions on the Internet, this detail is often lost along the way once the original report is published. That seems to be the case with this notification.
Is it true that the next Android 14 update will flash your Google Pixel?
No, it’s fake news. How so, when so many respected publications carry the story? It just isn’t. What they are reporting is that a very specific Beta build of QPR3 Android 14 is causing problems under very specific conditions.
The next version of Android 14 QPR, scheduled for March 11, is QPR2, not QPR3. There are no reports of this causing anything.
That an early QPR3 Beta is causing problems shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone with Beta-tested software. It is what the testing process should reveal before the final release is released to the general public. But wait, it gets even sillier that people are spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt about this Android 14 update: it only applies to users of certain smartphone models (Pixel and Fold) and then only if the Beta is installed in a certain way. If you install it the approved way using the over-the-air update then there doesn’t seem to be a problem. If you download it, however, then the bricking party begins and only then.
I would expect any such bugs to have been ironed out by the time Android 14 QPR3 drops in June. So don’t panic and keep updating.
I have contacted Google for more information on this issue and will update this article if it becomes available.
