Motorola recently unveiled a list spelling out which of its phones would be updated to Android 8.0 Oreo soon, and some folks quickly noticed a glaring omission.

When Motorola introduced the Moto G4 and G4 Plus last year, the company promised it would eventually receive updates to Android N and then Android O. But it appeared that those phones not only didn’t make the cut, but that Motorola even removed all references to Android O from the website for its 4th-gen Moto G devices.

Now it looks like Motorola is backtracking… although the company describes the change of heart as more of a correction for an earlier mistake. The upshot is that if you’ve got a 2016 Moto G phone, you should be able to expect an Android 8.0 update… eventually.

Motorola has released a statement that indicates a few things:

  • It’s the company’s “general practice” for Moto G devices to get one major OS update.
  • The marketing materials for the Moto G4 that promised two major updates were a mistake. There was never a plan to update the Moto G5 and G4 Plus to Android 8.0.
  • But Motorola says “it’s important to us we keep our promises,” so the company will issue an unplanned Android O update to the phones.

What remains to be seen is when. Motorola says since there were never any plans for this upgrade, it will take some time to figure out how to fit it into the schedule.

Other Motorola phones that will be updated to Android 8.0 include the Moto G5, G5 Plus, G5S, and G5S Plus, and every Moto Z phone released to date including the Moto Z, Moto Z Play, Moto Z2 Play, and Moto Z2 Force.

 

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3 replies on “Motorola to release Android 8.0 update for Moto G4 (after saying it would… then wouldn’t)”

  1. Meh. I’m pretty sure that every longtime Android user knows by now, don’t buy with hopes of getting the update. Don’t let your purchase be determined by it, ever. Either be patient and wait for updated devices before upgrading the phone OR buy the phone marketed directly by Google, the Pixel.

    Failing that (let’s say, if you don’t use the carrier the Pixel is released on and have to make payments vs. buying outright because you can’t afford it) then stick with the brands with phones that have the best track record. LG seems to have the best right now, due to only releasing maybe 2 or 3 popular phones a cycle in the US, which are the Gx and the Vxx (G5/V10, G6/V20, V30, etc.). Samsung has an OK track record but take way longer than LG. Motorola also has a good record with their higher end devices like the Z but their mid and budget are based on pure luck. They promised their G4s would get 7 and they haven’t and now they’ve promised 8 on the newer G4s and have reneged on that promise as well (we’ll see if they really do release it). Will be interesting to see if the G5’s really do get updated.
    Not sure about Huawei, etc. Forget about anything else (like ZTE, Blu, etc.).

  2. Lineage OS has very good support for Moto G, it may worth to install LOS than the official upgrade.

  3. makes we wonder how much effort they’ll put into making it a “good” update. so many don’t go so good, even when they put a lot of time into it. this will be an afterthought

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