Google Pixel 7 and 6 are finally getting the January 2023 Play system update

You may get an update, but it won’t affect Play system builds until January

Google has been releasing monthly Play system updates for a few years now. Starting in January 2022, the company began publishing detailed changelogs that showed everything new in these releases. The problem is that even though there are monthly updates, they don’t always roll out every month. The December 2022 Play system update never made it to Pixel devices, and while Google published the January 2023 update’s release notes at the beginning of the month, the build was nowhere to be seen. Three weeks into January, Pixel 6 and 7 owners reported receiving the latest Play System builds.

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Several Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 owners on Reddit are looking for the January 2023 Play system update to download. On the Pixel 7, the update weighs in at around 63MB, while it’s around 59MB in size on the Pixel 6 series. However, many Pixel users report that installing the latest Play system update does not affect the January 2023 build. Instead, his phone remains on the November 1, 2022 release after reboot.

We faced the same issue on two of our Pixel 7 units. On checking the 63MB update appeared for download. After installation, however, the phone remained on the November build. The second unit was updated to Android 13 QPR2 beta 2.1 after installing the Play system update, but that didn’t bump the build until January.

Some Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 users aren’t seeing any updates to download when checking the latest build of the Play system. If you’re one of them, update your Google Play Store and Play Services first to see if that changes anything.

These changes are highlighted in Google’s January 2023 release notes for the Play system update:

[Phone, Wear OS] Bug fixes for Account Management, Security & Privacy, System Management & Diagnostics, and Usability Services.

[Phone] Updates to system management and utility services that improve device connectivity, device performance, network usage, privacy, security, stability, and usability.[1]

It’s unclear why Google Play has been so inconsistent with the rollout of system updates, especially on its Pixel phones. For now, you can just check for the Play system update on your phone and hope to get the January build.

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