Google Pixel 4 development accidentally confirmed

The Google Pixel 4 may come with a Snapdragon 855 SoC. (Source: Droid Life)

The Google Pixel 4 smartphone has been specifically mentioned in a discussion about code in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). There has been previous mention of a “2019 Pixel” made in an AOSP commit message, but the latest commit seems to suggest that the Pixel 4 is in the development phase.

by Daniel R Deakin, 2019/04/04

An AOSP commit message has been spotted by 9To5Google that has confirmed the existence and likely testing of the Google Pixel 4. Unsurprisingly, there has already been a number of leaks in regard to this potential flagship smartphone: From regular and XL versions sporting a punch-hole dual selfie camera setup to eSIM support – the rumors are starting to spread.

However, this latest tidbit of news comes courtesy of a Google employee, who was bemoaning the fact that he did not have access to a Google Pixel 4 device. In an exchange about a KASAN (KernelAddressSanitizer) bug fix, this comment was made:

The plan was to first deploy this on Pixel 3 and make sure that everything actually works. Then move on to Pixel 4 and so on. If I had a Pixel 4 device, I probably wouldn't have bothered with 4.9 in the first place.

This was later followed by some further discussion about KASAN, with another mention of the upcoming Google smartphone appearing: “or 4.14 if I happen to get a Pixel 4.” So although the person in question doesn’t have their hands on a Google Pixel 4, it can be deduced that some developer somewhere is currently testing the successor to last year’s Pixel.