After quitting phones in 2021, LG will soon pull the plug on its update servers

[midian182]

In context: It's been four years since LG announced it was quitting the phone business, marking a sad end for a brand that offered unique alternatives to the slew of Apple and Samsung models on the market. LG has continued providing software updates to customers since then, but that will end on June 30 this year.

After experiencing six years of falling sales and declining shipments, LG warned in January 2021 that it could exit the phone business. The writing was on the wall in March when Germany's Volkswagen AG and Vietnam's Vingroup JSC, which had been looking at acquiring the smartphone arm, backed away after negotiations fell through.

The confirmation arrived in April that year, killing off a brand that in 2013 was the world's third-largest phone maker.

Most firms leaving the phone business have been quick to end support for their handsets, but LG pledged up to three iterations of Android updates for its premium devices released in 2019 or later, including the LG Velvet and LG Wing.

While that meant the phones would only received patches and upgrades up to Android 12 or Android 13, depending on the device, LG has left its update servers active for much longer than its 3-year cutoff date. But Android Authority reports that they will finally be shut off on June 30, 2025. As such, the company is recommending anyone who still has an LG phone to make sure it's updated before then.

The LG Bridge PC is also being shut down at the end of June. The software is used to transfer contacts, images, videos and audio files from a mobile device to a PC, and allows users to back up, restore, or update software via USB.

The modular LG G5's removable battery. Remember those?

LG was never afraid to innovate in a smartphone market where new models often look identical to their predecessors. There was the modular G5, the dual-screen LG G8X, the flexible LG G Flex 2, and the futuristic LG Wing 5G, to name a few.

The closure of the update servers will draw a final line under LG's smartphone business. It'll be a sad moment as many people were fans of its handsets, quirky or otherwise – this writer loved the LG V30 and used the device for many years.

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After quitting phones in 2021, LG will soon pull the plug on its update servers

 

[Watzupken]

I don’t disagree that LG is one of the most innovative when it comes to mobile phone design back then, but the software updates is probably one of the worst, if not the worst. I’ve used their flagship phone twice, and you may not receive a single update to fix bugs for almost a year if not longer. New Android versions are nice to have for me, but bug fixes should never take that long.

 

[daffy duck]

LG never realised innovation != quality. Pathetic QC, worse customer service, denied serious hardware faults existed and refused to fix those problems, 5th rate software, violated open source standards and refused to make Android kernel available for their phones.

I've never owned an LG device or appliance that hasnt failed prematurely. I couldn't even use my G2's gps after about 18 months, a well known hardware issue apparently, except LG washed their hands of the problem.

 

[SirDigby]

I loved my G4 ~2015, I got it after my S3 Mini (refurb) and I absolutely loved it, was the first phone once I started earning and I was actually quite sad to move onto a new phone but my wife continued to use it for another year or so until the issues that bothered me started to bother her. I think I went on to a OnePlus 3T, then a 6T, before eventually moving to Samsung S21 Ultra, 23 Ultra and now 25+. It's no longer exciting getting a new phone, just a pain in the arse transferring everything and setting up all the apps again.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

LG never realised innovation != quality. Pathetic QC, worse customer service, denied serious hardware faults existed and refused to fix those problems, 5th rate software, violated open source standards and refused to make Android kernel available for their phones.

I've never owned an LG device or appliance that hasnt failed prematurely. I couldn't even use my G2's gps after about 18 months, a well known hardware issue apparently, except LG washed their hands of the problem.

There's a reason people stopped buying them, and it wasnt the removable batteries.

 

[user478318]

You guys seem to be a little too critical on LG software side, just take a look at how bad Samsung OneUI 7 recently released update is! Made me wanna buy an iPhone