UPDATE: Now Google has confirmed Verizon's statement, telling Ars Technica, "OS updates and monthly security patches will be updated on all Pixel devices (Verizon and non-Verizon versions) simultaneously."
Google confirmed last month that Verizon will control the system updates for the Pixel and Pixel XL phones that it sells, causing some to worry that those versions won’t be updated as quickly as the models sold by Google. Today Verizon said that that won’t be the case.
Verizon says that the Pixel phones that it sells will get updates at the same time as the Pixels sold by Google. “When Google releases an update, Verizon phones will receive the same update at the same time (much like iOS updates),” Verizon told Ars Technica. “Verizon will not stand in the way of any major updates and users will get all updates at the same time as Google.”
Verizon also noted that the Pixels that it sells will be carrier unlocked and that, while there will be three Verizon apps preinstalled (Go90, My Verizon, and Verizon Message), all three can be uninstalled by the owner.
When Google said that Verizon would control the system updates for its Pixels, many were concerned that updates would take longer to reach Verizon’s phones than they would Google’s phones. That’s because with the Galaxy Nexus, which was sold by Verizon and unlocked from Google, some updates took longer to hit the Verizon phone than they did the Google model.
Verizon says that that won’t happen with the Pixels, though, and that the Pixel and Pixel XL will get updates at the same time as the Google versions, just like how all Apple iPhones get iOS updates at the same time. We’ll have to wait until the first Pixel update rolls out before we know if this will actually be the case, but Verizon’s statement does make its Pixels a bit more more attractive than they were before.
Now that Verizon says that its Pixels will be updated at the same time as the Google models, are you thinking about getting a Verizon Pixel?