The story of the Pixel 4a’s battery reduction update is a rocky one. Early this year, Google rolled out an unexpected Pixel ...

The Google Pixel 4a battery update does even more than we thought, reducing capacity by around 44% and halving the maximum charging speed on affected devices. The update also disables features ...

What should have been a good thing Google released the Pixel 4a in 2020. This means it isn’t covered by Google’s newer update policy that promises seven years of OS and security updates.

Early this year, Google rolled out a surprise Android 13-based Pixel 4a Battery Performance Program for the device. It's the first update to come since they ended support in September 2023.

However, Google understands that this isn’t fair and is offering appeasement to affected owners. If your Pixel 4a is an Impacted Device, you may be eligible for a free battery replacement.

Pixel 4a: Google Removes Old Updates Google has removed all previous Pixel 4a software updates. The only available update now is TQ3A.230805.001.S2, released on January 22.

Not all Pixel 4a smartphones are affected though, and now we have a better sense of why thanks to some digging from Hector Martin (the lead developer of the Asahi Linux project).

The Pixel 4a’s battery program made some batteries worse, and now Google has scrapped older updates. You either get a new device or replace your battery.