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So, that "check for update" button might start doing something next year

The maligned button, found in the Nexus/Pixel settings menu, should work as intended following an update in 2018.
By
December 8, 2017
TL;DR
  • The “check for update” button on Android phones may start working following a patch in 2018
  • User will reportedly be able to retrieve the latest over-the-air update available to their handset with a tap
  • The functionality will be available for Google and non-Google devices

A Google engineer said in September that the “check for update” button found in the Pixel/Nexus settings menu was now working. Apparently, this meant that, when tapping that button, your device would retrieve an update OTA file (if one was available) even if it had only rolled out to 1% of users — saving people from waiting around for an update notification to appear.

That’s basically the functionality you would expect from the button, which has long-since been in place without really doing anything. Despite these claims, however, it was apparent that it still didn’t act as intended.

According to Elliott Hughes, the Google employee who brought us the original information, the button should work following an update next year.

Hughes added an update to his original Google+ post yesterday (spotted by Android Police) to reveal the news, stating:

A Google Play Services update after I posted [the original comment] broke the feature again […] This was fixed again internally, but late enough that it will be next year before this works again for non-Googlers. Sorry about that. We will also be improving the testing process that allowed this incompatibility to slip through.

So, it seems that the feature actually was working at some point before a subsequent bug brought it to a halt. Further, the original post said that the button should work for non-Google devices (like Android One phones) with the proper implementation — there’s no reason that this shouldn’t still be true if/when it starts working again next year.

While this is positive news, it’s not clear exactly when in 2018 the feature will be here. Regardless, I’m not holding my breath for it; I’ve had too many disappointments at the hand of that blasted button to start getting excited about it now.