Android L Release Delayed Due To Nexus 5 Battery Life Bug, Google Says [Update]

Update: The Nexus 5 will see early, beta releases of Android L after the Moto X (2014), according to the earliest reports.

The release of Google's Android L update has been delayed for the Nexus 5 and potentially other devices due to battery issues, Google said Wednesday. The highly anticipated update, Android 5.0 or “Lollipop,” was officially released with the Nexus 9 tablet and Nexus TV on Tuesday.

Nexus 5 and Nexus 4 owners who were expecting Google to release Android L to their devices over the air, or OTA, on Tuesday evening were disappointed to find that the update never arrived. Those newer devices in the tech giant’s “stock” Android smartphone program are traditionally the first to receive new versions of the operating system. However, Nexus 5 owners -- and likely every Android device in line behind it -- will likely have to wait until Google’s software engineers are able to iron out a bug draining the Nexus 5’s battery when the device is on Wi-Fi.

In a support forum for the Android Developer Preview, a senior Google programs engineer confirmed that the bug had not been fixed as of Wednesday afternoon. The post was spotted by an eagle-eyed Redditor, who posted his discovery to the site early Wednesday evening.

“Android Engineering is aware of an issue affecting Nexus 5 users running Android 5.0 which causes significant ‘Miscellaneous’ battery usage while WiFi is enabled,” Google senior developer Trevor Johns said. “We are continuing to investigate this issue.”

Update: Google has marked the battery life issue as "fixed." This could mean that the official update for the Nexus 5 is rolling out soon, but Google refused to comment on a timeline.

For users running an experimental, or beta release of Android L 5.0 (Lollipop), Johns said that turning off Wi-Fi was one temporary fix. Android L "developer preview" software is still available to Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 tablet owners who can’t wait for the official release of Google’s latest, although they contain a number of bugs and Google recommends them only for secondary or backup devices.

Android L (5.0 Lollipop) still has no official release date from Google, but it is likely delayed at least until Nov. 12, according to Android Police Founder Artem Russakovskii. He wrote Tuesday on Google+ that a source with knowledge of the situation said “outstanding bugs” were preventing Google from releasing the update. It's not immediately clear whether the Nexus 5’s battery life issue was the only thing holding back Android L’s official release on other smartphones.