The Sony Xperia XA and Xperia XA Ultra smartphones both started to receive the Android 7.0 Nougat update in mid-June but around a week ago, it appeared that the update had been pulled, although at the time there was no clarification on the matter. However, responding to questions about this from Xperia Blog, Sony Mobile issued an official statement yesterday about the withdrawal of the Nougat update for the Xperia XA and Xperia XA Ultra, and has confirmed that it has been temporarily halted because of “minor performance inconsistencies” pertaining to the company’s delivery system. Android 7.0 Nougat was pushed out to both smartphones as an over-the-air (OTA) update, and Sony has offered reassurance to users who have already upgraded either of these devices. The Japanese multinational states that the minor issues with the update will not cause any loss of performance or affect user data, and has given assurance that the rollout will begin again once the company is sure it can offer a “seamless upgrade,”
Of these two Sony smartphones, it was the Sony Xperia XA Ultra that started to receive the Android Nougat update first, beginning with the model numbers F3211 and F3212. Just a few days later, the Nougat rollout started for the Sony Xperia XA, i.e. its model numbers F3111, F3113, F3115, F3112, and F3116. Some of the new features and changes with the Android 7.0 Nougat update include multi-window support, enhancements to the doze mode to prolong battery life, and app shortcuts. At the same time, the software will likely offer some Sony-specific improvements to the firmware and built-in apps, as generally happens with manufacturers’ own user interfaces that are used on top of stock Android.
Once the temporarily paused update for the Xperia XA and XA Ultra starts rolling out again, users should be notified about the availability of the update through a push notification, as always. Alternatively, users can check manually to see if the update is ready from the phone’s ‘Settings’ menu from where they should navigate to the ‘About Phone’ section and tap the ‘Software Updates’ option. It’s recommended that downloading and installing the update should be done over a Wi-Fi connection and that devices have at least 50 percent of battery life before beginning, to avoid problems if the handset powers down during the process. All being well, it shouldn’t be too much longer until the Android Nougat update once again starts rolling out to the Xperia XA and XA Ultra.