Google has one thing in mind in terms of improving the repairability of its Pixel devices: to allow its users to repair them using the simplest tools in their homes.
The smartphone industry is a huge arena, and even a giant like Google has to make huge moves to impress consumers. As such, aside from the long seven-year software support, the company wants to promote its Pixels by making them the most repairable devices in the market.
The search titan already has a partnership with repair company iFixit and uBreakiFix to accomplish the plan, but it wants more than that. As such, in a recent episode of the Made by Google podcast, Steven Nickel, Devices and Services Director of Operations at Google, shared the company’s visions for its device repairability goals.
To start, Nickel believes that Google should review the amount of glue that will be used in future generations of Pixel devices. According to him, it is one of the elements in Pixels that makes repairability a challenge to normal users.
“I remember going to our repair depot in Japan, and they had just outlined this process really effectively of how to take apart this device,” Nickel shared. “And they had done it by station. There was just one station that all they did was take out all of the glue and scrape it out of there.”
Google is not a stranger to the Right to Repair movement, as it is one of the companies that are vocal about its support for it. As part of its beliefs, it doesn’t even require parts pairing, which allows anyone to replace parts of the Pixel without registering them to the company (a major issue in Apple’s iPhones). Yet, it doesn’t stop there. For Nickel, the objective is to make Pixel devices that can be repaired using simple tools at home, like the ones you have in the kitchen.
“We want to get to a point where you can reach into a kitchen drawer and be able to replace your screen,” Nickel said.
Currently, as part of its pro-repairability efforts, Google has partnerships with other repair businesses to promote easy access to Pixel repair parts. In line with this, these materials are available online for anyone to purchase. Aside from that, it launched an on-device Diagnostic App that can aid users in their repairs. Ultimately, the company has promised to continuously upload (and tweak them for better instructions) repair manuals for its devices, whether they are old or new.
