Google’s Android update policy hasn’t always been clear: in many cases, Android consumers continue to hope for an update, even when their device has reached 24 months (2 years) old. In some cases, as can be seen with the Nexus 5, Google often updates Nexus devices for months after they reach the 2-year expiration date, but there’s no guarantee of the next major update.
We’ve been hoping that Google would bring the next Android update, Android N, to the Nexus 5, though Google didn’t approve it for the Android N developer preview it released some weeks ago. A strange bit of code gave credence to the possibility, but the search engine giant has now shut down any hope of its 2013 LG Nexus 5 getting Android N now or in the future.
The source comes from Google itself, who has published a page titled “check and update your Android version,” in which the company has provided information on current devices and when they will stop receiving updates. In the “Timing for Android software updates” section, Google lists the Nexus 5, then beside it, “October 2015,” as if to say that the release of Android 6.0 Marshmallow (which was released at that time, the first week of the month in fact) would put an end to any future hope of an Android update for the device. You shouldn’t expect to receive any updates if you have a Nexus 5.
While this is bad news for Nexus 5 fans and users, it’s good news for Nexus devices overall because it lets Nexus users know what to expect from Google. We hope that Android OEMs LG, Samsung, HTC, Motorola, and others will publish an Android update policy sheet for their users to provide additional clarity and remove the “maybe, maybe not” responses that Android users often have when their handset(s) is aging.
