Category: Google Nexus 6

After being leaked a couple of days ago along with a slew of other leaks, the Google trade-in program for the Google Pixel is now live at the Google Store.  The program allows you to trade in previous Google Nexus phones, LG, Samsung, and iPhones to get a credit towards the purchase of a new Google Pixel or Pixel XL.

With the new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL only a few weeks away, it is a little surprising to see Google open this program up now.  The assumption was that it would start when the next generation phones were announced.

As for the value that you get, it largely depends on how new your phone is and its condition.  For example, if I wanted to trade in my Nexus 6P with 64GB of storage, I would get back $155 since it is in working condition and doesn’t have a broken screen.  If I trade in my wife’s iPhone SE 128GB, that would get me $87.

After months of delays sorting out bugs and upgrade issues, the Android Nougat 7.1.1 update has finally been released by Google for the Nexus 6.  The original update for the November 2014 flagship phone almost immediately caused issues for those who upgraded from Nougat 7.0.  Issues with the original update back in March dealt with Android Pay, as in, it completely broke.  Nexus 6 owners were not able to use the tap-to-pay service if they upgraded to Nougat 7.1.1.

To address the issue, Google actually reverted the devices back to Android Nougat 7.0 which sorted out the Android Pay problem but left “Shamu” owners out of luck on the latest & greatest features of Nougat 7.1.1.

Nexus 6 owners, rejoice!  Google has just released Android Nougat 7.1.1 for the phone, bringing it line with other Nexus and Pixel phones.  The update, build N6F26Q, comes a few weeks after the initial release of 7.1.1 with a few remaining bug issues preventing it from being released on the 2014 flagship Nexus device.  Google had committed to having the update out this week and, true to their word, it has happened.

Full factory images and OTA images are now available on the Android Developer site for those who want to manually flash your devices.  For those of you who want to wait, the OTA is rolling out now and should be hitting devices over the course of the next few days.  Keep in mind however it can take a week or two before it hit everyone.

Great news and yet another reason to pick up a Nexus phone.  The Nexus team at Google has announced that Wi-Fi Assistant is coming to all Nexus phones in the coming weeks.  Wi-Fi Assistant to this point has been exclusive to Project Fi users which allows their devices to automatically connect to Google approved Wi-Fi hotspots securely and without any user intervention.  It is a huge benefit to Fi frankly as it saves on data plan usage.  It will connect your phone to Wi-Fi without you even knowing it.  Now all Nexus owners will benefit from the feature.

Like many of you, I spent much of late yesterday afternoon downloading the latest Android N Developer Preview.  Preview 4 is very close to the finished product and with it having the final API set that will be released with the public release, it feels far more polished than Preview 3 ever felt on my Nexus 6 or Nexus 9.  It is ready for prime time?  No, but it is close.  Really close in fact.  I’ve put together my thoughts on the overall performance and stability of the release as it relates to my two devices.  Obviously your mileage will vary but for now, I’m happy to share my thoughts to help you decide if you want to jump in on the beta.

It is the first of the month which means it is time for the monthly Android Security Bulletin to be released along with updated images for Nexus devices.  The June update is now on the Android Developer site in the factory images while OTA updates to Nexus devices will begin in short order.  Google has also released the full bulletin for the update, outlining all of the things that were addressed in the update.  In all there were 21 security updates in the release, six of which were considered critical in nature.  Google points out in the bulletin that no known exploitation of the issues are known but they are addressing them anyway to keep users safe and secure.