Upgrade system on Pixel (3) to next Android version near the end of official support?

With the official release of Android 12 right around the corner for supported Pixel devices etc. the question arise whether to upgrade the system on my Pixel 3 phone. Official support for Pixel 3 ends at the end of October and Android 12 is expected to be available for Pixel devices in October. So I wonder what the end of support mean with respect to bug fixes? What does history tell us for instance regarding end of support for Pixel 2? Did it still get bug fixes after the end of support date?

It would seem unwise to upgrade to a newly released Android version with potential for unexpected new bugs if the phone is not going to be supported by further bug fixes?

As I understand, major upgrades of the system cannot be reversed once done.

Also is the end of support date an absolute date or does it refer to release date for major releases of the system? (For instance would a Pixel 3 device still be able to upgrade to Android 12 in early December or does it have to happen before end of October?) Again what can history for previous devices tell us?

atigun wrote:

As I understand, major upgrades of the system cannot be reversed once done.

a factory reset will bring the OS in pixel 3 back to the version it came with (9)

Also is the end of support date an absolute date or does it refer to release date for major releases of the system?

there is no guaranteed android updates, that's verbatim from https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en#zippy=%2Cpixel-phones

vv50 wrote:

atigun wrote:

As I understand, major upgrades of the system cannot be reversed once done.

a factory reset will bring the OS in pixel 3 back to the version it came with (9)

Also is the end of support date an absolute date or does it refer to release date for major releases of the system?

there is no guaranteed android updates, that's verbatim from https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en#zippy=%2Cpixel-phones

Thanks for the reply. If one take that page by word one would be stuck with whatever state Android 12 has at the end of this month. I do notice the wording "No guaranteed security updates after... " (emphasis by me), so it makes one wonder if practice could deviate from what is guaranteed. Otherwise it seems risky, considering that Android 11 that came on my phone works pretty well, and 12 would not go far in added security updates.

Mine came as an open item with Android 11, and was supposed to have been subjected to a fresh factory reset (and it behaved as that was the case when I received it). That and other information I have seen indicates that a factory reset will not change current Android version. (Do you have a Pixel 3 that you have reset so that you are talking from experience?) If it is sent it back to 9, and google refuses to provide updates post October that could be just as bad or even worse.

atigun wrote:

(Do you have a Pixel 3 that you have reset so that you are talking from experience?)

the refurbished pixel 3 from google store which they reset before selling it was on android 9

vv50 wrote:

atigun wrote:

(Do you have a Pixel 3 that you have reset so that you are talking from experience?)

the refurbished pixel 3 from google store which they reset before selling it was on android 9

It might never have been upgraded as some refurbished items might never have been sold, or the Google store might have routines to reset the device beyond that of a normal factory reset invoked by a user. They could have just re-flashed the device with original software.

I am finding plenty of links though a search that indicates that the Android version is kept. When the system is upgraded, the old system version is not kept on the device. That would take too much of the device memory. So if a reset was to revert the system version it would have to download it.

atigun wrote:

I am finding plenty of links though a search that indicates that the Android version is kept.

for pixel 3 and above, it states that factory reset allows original android version

https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4596836?hl=en

vv50 wrote:

atigun wrote:

I am finding plenty of links though a search that indicates that the Android version is kept.

for pixel 3 and above, it states that factory reset allows original android version

https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4596836?hl=en

Interesting, thanks for the link.

atigun wrote:

vv50 wrote:

atigun wrote:

I am finding plenty of links though a search that indicates that the Android version is kept.

for pixel 3 and above, it states that factory reset allows original android version

https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4596836?hl=en

Interesting, thanks for the link.

Holding off upgrading for now. For the record of the thread here is a link that describes a downgrade process from A12 to A11, fairly complicated, seems to be lot of work, and it seems that the need to wipe the device would create problems if one are using the phone for multifactor authentication as one would not be able to transfer it to a new device before wiping like one would when upgrading a phone to a new model:
https://9to5google.com/2021/10/21/how-to-downgrade-from-android-12-to-android-11-on-google-pixel/

There is a link to the factory images on Google play:
https://developers.google.com/android/images#blueline
There are factory images for all the update releases from the start the to latest, so one could for instance choose to revert to the latest A11 image from October 2021.

[Edit: And to answer my own question: Extrapolated from history of factory images for Pixel 2 on this page, Pixel 3 will receive the last and final A12 update in December 2021, and that factory image will be available for download in foreseeable future after that.]

Of course it would be interesting to hear from anyone that did the A12 upgrade. Searches indicate mixed (both good and not so good) experiences so far. Surprised there is not any chatter here about A12 considering the stable version is now available on all Pixel devices from Pixel 3 on, but apparently this is not a very active forum...

atigun wrote:

Of course it would be interesting to hear from anyone that did the A12 upgrade.

on 12 since day 1, nothing interesting to report

vv50 wrote:

atigun wrote:

Of course it would be interesting to hear from anyone that did the A12 upgrade.

on 12 since day 1, nothing interesting to report

if you rely on customizing the icon shape and fonts features of 11, that is gone in 12

vv50 wrote:

vv50 wrote:

atigun wrote:

Of course it would be interesting to hear from anyone that did the A12 upgrade.

on 12 since day 1, nothing interesting to report

if you rely on customizing the icon shape and fonts features of 11, that is gone in 12

Thanks for the information, that is encouraging.  This is on your pixel 3 I presume?

Yes, I have seen comments on icon customization and text type (I just use the default) . I believe there is still some ability to adjust font size some places. Anyway no panic to actually do the update by the the end of October deadline, although I have the impression in some cases it happened on its own if one does not watch the update settings carefully.

Just a heads up: if you have a Panasonic camera, the image app is crashing on Android 12.

At least on my pixel 3a and the pixel 4a from someone that answered the thread I opened on Reddit.