Google has reached an agreement with smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm to provide up to four years of update support for Android devices.

This will effectively eliminate the problem of Android devices typically receiving only two years of update support.

In short, future Android phones will be able to support security and software updates for up to four years. [Qualcomm said, "These efforts are designed to enable faster Android OS upgrades with fewer resources and a predictable software lifecycle in Snapdragon-based handsets, and combined with the Snapdragon based devices running the latest version of the Android OS," he explained.

It is "Project Treble" that will essentially double the update support normally expected for Android devices. This cooperation between Google and Qualcomm is essentially an agreement to make the software portion of Android fully backward compatible with older components of Android up to three generations.

This will likely result in phones being more usable before they stop receiving Android updates and start facing compatibility issues and security risks. Hopefully, it will also mean that people will be able to get major Android updates earlier throughout the year.

In this way, Android phones may be able to compete with Apple's iPhone. This may be why more people are using older iPhones than older Android devices.

Project Treble has a few caveats. First of all, it only applies to phones with Qualcomm chipsets.

However, this leaves Exynos-powered Samsung phones and others in the way; Samsung flagships like the Galaxy S20 FE have more than two years of software support, but mid-range Galaxy devices do not.

The second caveat is that this new update effort will only begin with phones that are powered by the Snapdragon 888 and launched with Android 11, such as the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S21 and possibly the OnePlus 9. This means that even with the impressive OnePlus 8T powered by the Snapdragon 865, older phones will be left by the wayside.

The final problem is that adding additional support is left to the discretion of each manufacturer. With Google's involvement, the Pixel 6 could be around for quite some time, but it remains to be seen if other Android phone makers are willing to get on board or decide they don't want the hassle.

In that light, 2021 may be a good time to upgrade your Android phone. Be sure to check back in the new year for our list of the best Android phones, as we'll flag phones worth upgrading to.