Android updates don't matter anymore, and it's all Google's fault

Android updates don’t matter. I know that’s a provocative thing to say. Android updates fix bugs, address security vulnerabilities, and add new features to your phone. Yet, I stand by my statement.

Android updates don’t matter, at least not in the same way they used to. The way Google does things in 2026 is not the same as the way it did things back in 2008, and that’s not always a bad thing.

New features aren’t a part of Android

Gemini launched in 2023, the same year as Android 14. So, would you be right in thinking that you need Android 14 to use Gemini? No. The minimum requirement to use Gemini on Android is Android 9.0 Pie, released in 2018. The original Google Pixel was updated to Android 10, so every Pixel phone Google has ever made supports what is arguably one of the most important additions to Android ever.

That’s one example of many. In the last year, Google gave us Ask Maps and Ask Photos, two incredibly useful features. The minimum Android version needed? Android 8.0 Oreo, so even the Nexus 5X and 6P have access. There’s a theme emerging here. Most of the new things Google announces for Android each year aren’t tied to an Android version — it’s dependent on the app that feature is a part of, and it rarely requires the latest Android update to be compatible.

This isn’t only the case for apps like Gemini or Google Photos. Google and most Android manufacturers update important apps, including system applications, through the Play Store, Galaxy Store, or whatever app store the phone comes with. This is a great way to handle updates because bugs and glitches can be squashed quickly without the user having to install an update and reboot their phone, and it skips the need for Android OEMs to prep the update for the dozens of phones they support.

Apple updates some apps via the App Store, such as GarageBand and iMovie. But important apps like Messages, the camera, Safari, and even Apple Music are updated via a full system update. So while Google can fix a bug in Google Messages or YouTube Music with a quick update on the Play Store that can reach every Android phone seamlessly, Apple has to send a full iOS update to supported devices. I know plenty of iOS and Android users who hate updating their phones and put it off for as long as possible — and only one of those groups will get new features and bug fixes to core apps without changing their ways.

When Apple inevitably releases a chart showing how many of its devices are on the latest version of iOS versus how many Android phones are on their latest OS version, remember that it isn’t as simple as that. The majority of Android phones have access to all of the latest features. As for vulnerabilities, Google, Samsung, and most other OEMs release security patches independently of major OS updates, and Google’s Play System Updates do the same — right from the Play Store on phones running Android 10 or newer.

That’s not to say Android updates don’t bring anything new. Obviously, they do. Android 17 added app bubbles, one of my favorite new features in years, and Material 3 Expressive looks fantastic on Android 16 and 17. But major Android updates don’t excite in the same way they used to, and most new features don’t require them.

Hardware matters more than ever

Google is devaluing Android updates in new ways this year. Gemini Intelligence took up a lot of the screen time during The Android Show in May. Love it or hate it, AI features like this are the future of smartphones, unless the AI bubble (hopefully) bursts. Gemini Intelligence requires Android 17, but rather than disproving my point, the rest of its requirements prove my argument.

When Google Now was unveiled, every phone and tablet that got Android 4.1 Jelly Bean got it. Gemini Intelligence is the opposite. To use Gemini Intelligence, your phone will need a flagship processor, at least 12GB of RAM, Android 17, Android AICore, Gemini Nano v3 or higher, at least five years of major Android upgrades, and at least six years of security patches.

To put into perspective how stringent those requirements are, only the 10 series of Pixel phones will be compatible, excluding the 10a. Likewise, the only existing Samsung models to get it are the S26 handsets, so even the $2,900 Galaxy TriFold won’t get what you could describe as the biggest new Android feature in years. It’s the same story with OnePlus, Honor, and other Android OEMs.

In a time when memory pricing is out of control and hardware in general is only getting more expensive, Google is making high-end hardware essential for the best Android experience and devaluing its own budget Pixels in a way it never has before. Maybe I’m on my own here, but Android updates and new features have been getting less exciting for years now, and strict hardware requirements that lock most people out of using them only make matters worse.

It also makes me feel less positive about my Pixel 10 Pro. If all Pixel 9 users are getting locked out of important features so soon, will the same happen to the Pixel 10 series? Do seven years of Android updates mean anything if the best features aren’t included? I don’t have the answers to those questions, and I don’t think Google does, either.