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The latest factory images and OTA ZIPs bringing July's security patches to Nexus devices are ready for download. Thing is, those files are beefy, and they can take a while to download. Want to take a quicker route? Try downloading an incremental OTA ZIP instead.
Right on schedule on the first Monday of the month, Google's latest security updates for Nexus devices have arrived. Both factory images and OTA update zips for June 2016 are available for the following devices, Android version 6.0.1, listed below with build numbers for your convenience.
I love my Nexus 7 2013. I bought it the day it was released in the US, shipped it over to Lebanon, and have used it daily ever since I received it. I find it to be the perfect size for reading and browsing, especially if you like holding your tablets with one hand. (I walk around reading on mine, I'm a bit weird like that.) The build quality also makes it awesome to throw on a bed or sofa without worrying about something getting loose or broken inside. It's also recently got Marshmallow, which makes it more up to date than most tablets out there.
Want a 2013 Nexus 7? If you're still getting your 7-inch Nexus devices confused, think of this as the good one. Grabbing one now may be a much faster way to get Marshmallow than waiting on an update.
We've seen an oddly isolated Nexus factory image update today, for one and only one device: the N7 2013 Wi-Fi. It's been bumped from version LMY47V to version LMY48G, with no update to the Android version number - it's still Lollipop 5.1.1. You can download the image and flash it right now, but you might as well wait for the over-the-air update, because you're not likely to see anything new in there.
After an early tease with the Nexus Player, it looks like Android 5.1.1 is legitimately rolling out to the Nexus family. An OTA for the Nexus 10 was spotted just a few hours ago, and now factory images and binaries have been posted for that tablet and both generations of the Nexus 7 (Wi-Fi only, for now). There haven't been any OTA reports for the two smaller tablets, but they will probably start rolling out shortly.
The 2013 Nexus 7 might not be available from Google anymore, but it's still one of the best devices in its form factor. There are a lot of impressive deals available for this tablet, usually falling well below the $150 mark. So it is with one of Groupon's deals today: you can grab a 16GB WiFi N7 for $149.99, but if you add in the coupon code sale3 to the mix before you check out, you can take an extra $15 off that price.
When we buy gadgets, it's usually with the expectation that their useful lifetime will carry us at least until we're ready to replace them, and hopefully well beyond. Most people assume their smartphones should last at least two years, in part because contract customers in the US are accustomed to unreasonably high upgrade prices for mid-term upgrades, and also because most manufacturers have adopted yearly release cycles that fit well with this pace. The expectations for tablets aren't as well defined, but most customers seem to want about 3 years or so. Even when we're done with a device, we want to be the ones to end the relationship, rather than wake up and find our hardware dead beyond hope. Unfortunately, recent reports suggest the 2013 Nexus 7 from Asus is not living up to the standards set forth by many owners as units are catastrophically failing at increasing rates.
Yesterday, something odd happened...the 2013 Nexus 7 LTE got an OTA before its Wi-Fi counterpart. Thankfully, it appears that it was only a day early, as Google is now rolling out its latest Android build to the Wi-Fi only variant as well.
Of our many jobs here at Android Police, one is to make our readers' lives easier when we can. With that in mind, here's a roundup of every known Nexus Lollipop OTA. As new ones become available, this post will be updated accordingly.
It has now been over two months since the Lollipop OTA updates for Nexus devices began rolling out en masse. So far, every Nexus and Google Play Edition device has received the bump to Google's latest sweet treat...except the cellular Nexus 7s. If you own a 2012 3G or 2013 LTE model, you've been left out in the cold, remaining on KitKat unless you want to venture into the world of custom ROMs.
Into every life a little rain must fall. Across every software update a few bugs will crawl. The most glaring problem for new users of Android 5.0 on the Nexus 7 2013 is a bug that appears to be stopping video playback dead. You can see a few users reporting the issue here, and we've seen it on at least one Android Police staff member's tablet. The good news is that there appear to be a few ways that you can fix it. The bad news is that they don't seem to fix it for long.
Technically the Developer Preview builds of Android L that Google issued are meant only for, well, developers. But of course a ton of regular users have downloaded them to try out Lollipop, and those users tend to be the same ones that like to use root apps. The updated Android 5.0 preview builds for the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 2013 issued yesterday broke the existing root functions, so SuperSU developer Chainfire issued a quick fix.
Google rolled out the 4.4.4 update to devices earlier this year, with the 2013 Nexus 7 seeing the OTA in mid June. Here we are over three months later and Google has finally posted the full factory images and binaries for the LTE version of the N7. It's about time, guys.
eBay just loves discounting that 2013 Nexus 7, or at least a lot of the merchants that use eBay do. Google's perennial 7-inch tablet is back on the Daily Deal list, this time in a 32GB Wi-Fi flavor. The tablet is going for 9.99, a full $110 off of the retail price in the Play Store, so long as you're OK with a refurbished unit. According to the listing, this particular model is an Asus Authorized Refurbished product with a 90 day warranty from the manufacturer.
Look, it's been a year since the Nexus 7 got its first hardware refresh. There will probably be a replacement before too long. Right now is the worst time to buy it, at least if you're bothered by the idea of a recently-purchased device being suddenly outclassed by a new one. All that being said... you can get a great deal on the Nexus 7 2013 32GB if you head over to eBay right now.
The revised Nexus 7 has been available for the better part of a year, and we've featured innumerable sales and discounts on the tablet. If you don't have one by now, it's probably because you don't want one. That said, if you're one of the last people in the US or Canada to get on the trolley, an eBay vendor is offering the basic 16GB WiFi model at a significant discount today.
Yesterday was a relatively big day for Android, at least compared to our regularly scheduled programming - Google sent us a gift in the form of the 4.4.3 update, available immediately via factory images and in AOSP. The problem with factory images, however, is that they require an unlocked bootloader to flash, so many of you opt in to wait for the respective OTAs.
If you've been waiting for a good opportunity to join the Nexus 7 party, now is as good a time as you're likely to find in the near future. If you head over to [ebay id="191133784875" text="eBay Daily Deals"], you can pick up a factory-refurbished WiFI-only Nexus 7 for just $149.99. This is the 2nd generation (2013) model and comes with a 90-day manufacturer warranty.