Verizon wants you to know its Google Pixel phones will get immediate Android updates

Verizon wants you to know that everything is fine. It’s learned its lesson. The carrier’s Google Pixels will get Android updates at the same time as the unlocked versions. False alarm.

Of course, that original five-day-long concern came from Verizon itself, noting last week that its version of Google’s eagerly awaited Pixel handset would be carrier-controlled. Here’s the original statement from the company,

Monthly security updates will come from Google (for all models), and system updates will be managed by Verizon for Verizon models, and Google for unlocked models bought from Google Store.

That, naturally, got everyone a bit worried. Carriers, after all, don’t have the best track record when it comes to offering up system updates in a timely fashion, a fact that’s doubly concerning with a handset for which the latest and greatest version of an operating system is one of the strongest selling points.

The carrier clarified things a bit today in a statement sent to Ars Technica. Here’s that, in part.

First and foremost, all operating system and security updates to the Pixel devices will happen in partnership with Google. In other words, when Google releases an update, Verizon phones will receive the same update at the same time (much like iOS updates). Verizon will not stand in the way of any major updates and users will get all updates at the same time as Google.

Verizon’s also quick to note that the handset is carrier unlocked and that, while it ships with three VZ-branded apps (Go90, My Verizon and Verizon Message), you can delete them off the phone and just pretend like none of this happened.

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