Video: Android 11 is a buggy mess. Why this affects us

After reading the article posted by Marin about the Android 11 update bricking Xiaomi Mi A3 devices, which are running on Android One like our beloved Nokia phones, I wanted to see if this has been an isolated case of bad implementation, or if there was a bigger issue at play here. Lo and behold, and it seems like the Android 11 update hasn’t exactly been smoothly implemented for many users from different brands. You can watch my video here:

Sadly, this wouldn’t be the first and most likely won’t be the last time a new version of Android rolls out and users face multiple issues, some of which cannot be fixed with a hard reset. From Pixel users to Galaxy S20 users, there are plenty of system-wide issues that have been popping up causing devices to reboot, become laggy, have connectivity issues, visual glitches, or app crashes. Google is aware of many of the issues and have pledged to fix them, which is good news. But a company like Google should be able to minimize these issues with proper testing. This doesn’t appear to have happened, and it keeps getting worse.

For Android One devices, we are even more dependant on Google getting their act together. One of the key selling points these days is the Pure up-to-date Android experience, and if a buggy update rollout causes delays, what’s the point of Android one? Shouldn’t we be getting the updates in theory before everyone else?

We are at the mercy of Google to add innovative features (or sometimes very basic features) into Android, and Google has no reason to push the envelope when they don’t really have a real threat to the massive market share Android dominates. Maybe it’s time to bring back the Z launcher?