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We’re only a third of the way through February, and the January 2024 Google Play system update for Android has just been released. The now infamous update originally rolled out in early January, but was discontinued after users started getting locked out of their phones’ local storage. Apparently, the update has been fixed and is being rolled out to devices. I was able to install it successfully this morning.
When this update first rolled out, some devices with multiple user accounts or work profiles experienced what Google describes as “multiple apps crashing, screenshots not saving, and external storage consistently “Not working” occurred. Users described their phones affected by the issue as “unusable.” Google finally published instructions for a manual fix on February 1st, about two weeks after the update first started rolling out. However, these steps are complex and manual processes that require you to enable developer mode, download developer tools, connect your phone, and enter the appropriate command prompt to manually remove buggy packages. was needed. As part of a February 1st post, Google seemed to promise to release an autofix at some point, but it’s already been nine days.
Google skipped the December Play System update due to the holiday break, so this “January” update for February will be the first Play System update since November. For those who don’t know, Play system updates are a fairly new form of Android update that is separate from OS-level system updates and security updates. Google has created a new super-privileged code package called the APEX module that can house core system components such as the Android runtime and media subsystem. Google will distribute these through the Play Store, allowing you to directly update core Android components without requiring third-party manufacturers to do the work.Sounds great on paper with updates work.
This update is the second time in four months that automatic Android updates have broken some Pixel phones (incidentally, once was a full OS update and once was a Play System update). Both issues resulted in weeks of downtime and “fixes” that either required developer-level command line work by novice users or caused data loss. Google’s track record over the past four months has been: 1) not having a reliable rollback method for buggy updates; 2) not properly testing updates; and 3) quickly stopping or repairing the damage caused. It suggests that you can’t. Buggy update. These issues make updating Pixel smartphones a scary proposition these days.
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