The distribution of the May 2026 security patches brings with it a very important development for owners of flagship smartphones from Google.
The Mountain View company has indeed decided to implement a stringent security measure, known as anti-rollback, dedicated specifically to the entire Pixel 10 lineup.
This decision essentially prevents users from restoring their device by installing older operating system versions than the one just released.
Pixel 10, anti-rollback arrives with the May update
The software restriction affects the entire generation, directly involving the variants Pixel 10, 10 Pro, 10 Pro XL and the foldable model 10 Pro Fold.
The operation is not an isolated case in the company’s recent history. A similar approach had already been adopted in the past when similar security blocks were introduced starting with the May 2025 update for models in the Pixel 6 and Pixel 8 families.
The block operates deep in the system, updating the bootloader version irreversibly and thus preventing the loading of older Android builds.
To clarify the details of this procedure and warn about potential critical malfunctions, the company has published an official statement. Below is the exact statement provided by Google:
“Notice: The May 2026 update for Pixel 10, 10 Pro, 10 Pro XL and 10 Pro Fold includes a bootloader update that increases the bootloader anti-rollback version. This prevents the device from returning to earlier and vulnerable bootloader versions. After installing the May 2026 update on these devices you will not be able to install and boot previous Android 16 builds.“
After receiving the May 2026 update and successfully booting the device after the update, an Android 16 build resides in the inactive slot (see seamless updates for more information on slots) of the device. The inactive slot contains an older bootloader whose anti-rollback version has not been incremented. If the active slot is subsequently updated with a build that fails to boot, the seamless updates fallback mechanism is triggered and the device attempts to boot from the inactive slot. Since the inactive slot contains the older bootloader, the device enters a state of boot impossibility.
To avoid ending up in this state, if you are updating an affected Pixel device with the May 2026 update or newer for the first time, install the bootloader partition in the inactive slot after updating and successfully booting Android 16 May 2026 at least once. This can be done by following these steps:
After a successful boot into Android 16 May 2026 for the first time, sideload the full OTA image corresponding to that build and reboot the device to ensure both slots have a bootable image.
Consequence for users and developers
Considering the practical impact of this security measure on everyday use, it is evident that the average consumer will not experience any discomfort. Downgrading the operating system, especially while staying within the same major Android release, is an extremely rare operation for the end user.
Users of the smartphone for everyday tasks will simply download the OTA package to enjoy the latest security patches, completely ignoring the complex bootloader dynamics.
However, the situation takes a very different turn for the developer community and for custom ROM creators. During code testing phases, the appearance of unexpected errors is a completely normal eventuality to expect.
If a fatal error were to occur on a device protected by this anti-rollback shield, the inability to revert to a stable installation could cause temporary but annoying issues. The smartphones risk becoming stuck in recovery mode, becoming completely unusable because they cannot overcome the barrier created by Google’s security system.
Although the issues described concern only a niche, the increasing frequency with which Google is implementing bans of this kind raises some technical reflections. It would certainly be useful if the company began to provide dedicated tools, aimed at the general public or at least accredited developers, able to easily unlock devices left stuck because of these stringent data protection procedures.
