Google's Pixel smartphones are getting enhancements on their update framework with the upcoming release of the Android 8.0. The new version of the operating system will allow them to get the necessary Android software updates even when the device storage is already full.
The new "streaming updates" feature will come as an upgrade to the "A/B" dual partition setup that the Pixel phones use for their storage. The setup was previously introduced to the Pixel line of smartphones via Android 7.0.
When an operating system update needs to be installed, the update data will be obtained from the internet and saved directly to an unused system storage, partition B, while the user is able to continue using the phone's other storage, partition A. The update almost bypasses partition A altogether, only needing around 100 KB of space for some metadata. This way the phone no longer needs to free up the 1 GB of storage space that the updates usually require.
The enhancement was created to make sure all Pixel users are able to get the necessary software updates that will make full use of the phones' capabilities and provide better user experience. Previously, phones needed to allocate a large amount of space to be used as cache while the operating system is updating to a newer version.
When Android 7.0 was launched for the Pixel, it introduced the "seamless updates" feature that enabled phones to install updates very quickly compared to previous operating systems. To do this, it created a dual partition setup in the phone's storage. When an update is downloaded, it is installed to an unused partition while the user can keep using the phone, since it's using the other partition, which is active. Once finished installing, a simple reboot will switch the phone's active partition to the newly updated one. This eliminates the long periods of updating time that rendered the phone useless, making updates seamless.
With the combination of the seamless and streaming updates, Pixel users will be able to enjoy their Android experience without having to worry about their phones' updates.
