GoKawiilRyan-Thomas Shaw / Android Authority
TL;DR Google’s old Pixel 4a smartphone has been leaving some users stuck in a boot loop.
Google acknowledged the issue nearly a month ago, but so far no fix has been available.
The company now confirms that a fix is on the way in the July Google Play system update.
Extended software support for our smartphones is better than ever these days, with companies like Google promising 7 years of OS and security updates for their latest handsets. Even when that lifeline dries up, though, we still hope that our older devices keep on functioning as they used to, even if that means missing out on the latest features and fixes. Unfortunately, the Pixel 4a seems to have been recently stricken by a serious glitch, preventing affected phones from successfully booting. Even though it’s now years out of Google’s old support window, the company confirms with Android Authority that a fix is on the way.
In response to our inquiry into the Pixel 4a’s boot loop problem, a Google spokesperson tells us, “a fix will be going out with the July update.”
Based on the reports we saw, this issue appeared to primarily impact Pixel 4a handsets, although we also found a few scattered reports claiming to observe the same problem on the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. Affected devices have been unable to fully complete their startup process, instead rebooting over and over. Looking at user feedback, it appeared that Wi-Fi and location settings were at the heart of the problem, but a permanent fix still proved elusive.
Unlike the special out-of-band update the Pixel 4a got back in January 2025 to address its battery issues, we’ve confirmed that this new fix is set to arrive as part of July’s Google Play system update.
That means the fix could be here any day now — and we’re sure that for Pixel owners experiencing the loop, it can’t get here soon enough. We’ll be keeping an eye out for its arrival, and let you know when it finally lands — as well as updating you about all the other changes present in the new Play system release.
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