End-of-Life dates for Nexus devices published by Google

Google just released the dates of End-of-Life for its Nexus devices online for everyone to check the update support for their devices. The selling point of Nexus devices for Android enthusiasts has been the promise of guaranteed updates from Google. The company refined its update policy with the introduction of the Nexus Security Bulletin, after initially committing support to new devices for up to 18 months. Google now posts monthly security patches to all the Nexus devices to up to 3 years or 18 months after the device is delisted from Google Play Store. In addition, the company promised major Android version OTA updates for 2 years after the initial launch. With the concept of a security bulletin, it was great to push OEMs to support updates for their own devices but it wasn’t clear till when support would be rendered. To clear this, Google published a list of dates for which it guarantees Android version updates. According to the list, Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P will be supported till September 2017, while Nexus 9 will see the support end in October 2016. The company also included older devices to give perspective of how they are deciding on the End-of-Life for devices with the End-of-Life dates for Nexus 5 being October 2015, Nexus 7 as July 2015 and Nexus 10 as November 2014 as reported by XDA. Curiously enough, the End-of-Life for devices mentioned by Google only means the end of support through official channels as developers have continued to support older devices such as the Nexus 4 up to the latest major Android version Marshmallow.