The latest version of Google‘s mobile operating system Android 11 is not rolling out to Pixel smartphones in India. According to a report in Android Central, the Android 11 stable update is now available for all Pixels, but the OTA (over the air) update is not available in India at this moment.
As per the report, “Google’s OTA images page has download links for the Android 11 stable builds for all Pixels, and the version notes suggest the build is available for all carriers except IN (India).” Incidentally, the Android 11 build for the company’s latest smartphone Pixel 4a is not available for EMEA, Singapore and India as the phone is still to launch in these markets. However, the OTA images for all other Pixels state that the update is not available in India.
In a statement to Android Central, Google spokesperson confirmed that the company is working to bring Android 11 update to Pixel users in India. “We’re working on making sure the Android 11 update is compatible with Indian ecosystem requirements, and expect it to begin rolling out next week,” said the company in a statement.
The miss seems to have not gone well with several Pixel smartphone users in India. Some of them complained on Google support forum of not recieving the update at the same time as the users in rest of the world. “No update for me either on my 3a XL..are we being deorioritized or what? It’s not that all the Asian countries are left out since people over Sri Lanka got that on day one…it’s quite disheartening because day one update is one of the few unique selling points of pixel series and Google can’t back down their own promise,” said a user named Abishek Roy.
“Yes, similar situation with my device as well (P2XL), haven’t received an update. I believe Google is rolling it out in successions based on Geography or based on recency of pixel device. It’s just a guess, pretty sure Google can manage worldwide roll out because frankly it’s Google. Anyways waiting for getting my hands on the last OS update for my device :(,” wrote another user named Tejas Sreenivasan.
The eligible phones for the upgrade include Google Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3, Pixel 3XL, Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL.
India is second-biggest smartphone market in the world. The country surpassed the USA to become the second-largest smartphone market by reaching 158 million shipments in 2019, as per Counterpoint Research. Google is still to make a dent in the Indian smartphone market dominated by Chinese players.
