The first-generation Moto X was never expected to receive Android Lollipop. In fact, its successor, the second-generation Moto X only received the newest iteration of Android in June, even as Google launched the operating system in November 2014.
Now, owners of the Moto X 2013 cannot contain their glee as their handsets from two years back are about to receive Android 5.1 Lollipop, that is, if their phones are running on Verizon.
The update was first reported by Droid-Life, which was tipped by its readers that they have indeed been invited to become part of a soak test to push out Android 5.1 Lollipop to the first-gen Moto X.
A soak test involves testing the OS to validate system behavior before Verizon rolls out the bigger release to its wider audience. Droid-Life's sources say the update comes in two parts, with the second part taking up the more substantial portion of the update at 712MB to bump the phone's version to Android 5.1 Lollipop. Once the soak test is complete, the software's final version will be 222.26.7.
Currently, there are no clues as to when Verizon will seed the official update to its customers, as soak tests can take somewhere between a couple of days to an entire week before the update is deemed okay for a wider release. If everything goes as planned, we might very well see the update rolled out within the week.
The news comes as Google is tipped to be getting ready for a Sept 29 media event where it is expected to launch Android 6.0 Marshmallow as well as the rumored pair of Nexus devices, one from LG and another from Huawei, which will bear the banner for Google's new OS.
Meanwhile, the Moto X 2013 is not expected to get updated to Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and Android 5.1 Lollipop could likely be the very last update the handset will receive. Earlier reports have claimed that only the Moto X Style, Moto X Play, second-gen Moto X, DROID Turbo, and second-gen and third-gen Moto G will receive the fluffy upgrade.
As a former division of Google, Motorola is well-known for being one of the first smartphone makers to push out the latest Android updates to its customers. However, older models, such as the Moto X 2013, are not usually expected to receive plenty of support from manufacturers and carriers.
Photo: andsleonardo | Flickr
