For the billions of Android 10+ phones on the Internet...

*There won't be a December 2023 Google Play System Update*
<https://www.androidauthority.com/no-december-2023-google-play-system-update-3395708/>

*Google will delay December 2023 Google Play System Update*
<https://www.androidheadlines.com/2023/12/google-will-delay-december-2023-google-play-system-update.html>

*Delayed Update: Google Play System Pushed to January 2024*
<https://ts2.space/en/delayed-update-google-play-system-pushed-to-january-2024/>

"Google's update strategy typically includes monthly releases to enhance
the functionality and security of its Android operating system.

However, Android users have been informed that the anticipated monthly
Play System Update for December will be skipped. The delay has been
officially confirmed and the next update installment, consisting of
important bug fixes, will be available at the start of the new year.

From its inception, the Android ecosystem frequently faced the issue
of fragmentation, where updates would be inconsistently distributed
among users. Google initially introduced Project Treble to decouple
the operating system framework from vendor-specific hardware elements,
allowing for faster update rollouts. Building on this, Android 10
launched Project Mainline, designed to further streamline the update
process by enabling the update of core OS components through Google Play
independently of the full system updates from device manufacturers.
Project Mainline, through modular Mainline modules, allows for more
granular and timely updates for critical system components-one of
which is the Android Runtime (ART), responsible for the execution of
Android applications. With modular updates, Google promises to maintain
system integrity and security despite the December hiccup."
--
Most people don't understand how an operating system updates itself.

Wally J wrote:

> Android users have been informed that the anticipated monthly
> Play System Update for December will be skipped. The delay has been
> officially confirmed and the next update installment, consisting of
> important bug fixes, will be available at the start of the new year.

They had problems recently, My pixel was on the october play update,
asking it to check for updates just "spun" forever, seems lots of people
were affected the same way, then eventually it found a november upgrade
to download, but spent forever at 0%, eventually it did download the
november version, checking again it found a much smaller update but it
was still called november not december.

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote

> They had problems recently, My pixel was on the october play update,
> asking it to check for updates just "spun" forever, seems lots of people
> were affected the same way, then eventually it found a november upgrade
> to download, but spent forever at 0%, eventually it did download the
> november version, checking again it found a much smaller update but it
> was still called november not december.

Hi Andy,
Thanks for communicating how your Pixel was doing, as I had seen anecdotal
evidence of the 'forever spinning' when I researched this before posting.

It's even worse for the Samsung devices, apparently, specifically Galaxy.
*Some Samsung phones haven't been getting Google Play system updates for months*
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/5FXlQibRlzw/>

Especially as they're "supposed" to happen roughly about monthly, forever.
*Android Project Mainline "Google Play system updates" security patches*
*are built weekly & hotfix your Android 10+ device seamlessly every month*
*forever* <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/YP999B6ZfIw/>

If you ever find out how long "forever" turns out to be, please let me know
(and yes, I'm aware all Project Mainline modules are donated to the AOSP).
--
I know you're well aware of the Google Play system update (formerly known
as Project Mainline); but a lot of people don't know how Android updates.
*All common consumer operating systems update in asynchronous layers*
*except for the primitive iOS monolith*
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/pmthHKhYSIg/m/KcFi-gFBAQAJ>