Google pushes out OTA downgrade taking Nexus 6 phone back to Android 7.0

Being a Google device, it's not surprising that the Nexus 6 was among the first handsets to receive an upgrade to Android 7.1.1 Nougat. But now the company is pushing out a rare over-the-air downgrade to Android 7.0.

When the update arrived, it -- rather understandably -- caused a great deal of confusion as users expect operating systems to progress rather than step back in time. Android 7.1.1 broke Android Pay for Nexus 6 users, and it's thought that this is the reason for the downgrade. But there's some bad news: the downgrade requires a factory reset.

Downgrading an operating system is never a simple task, and attempting to do it via an OTA update is unusual to say the least. Users have complained that the process is "royally screwed up" -- another way of saying that after the downgrade none of the installed apps work until a factory reset is performed.

In a thread on Reddit, a Google spokesperson waded into a heated discussion to provide a little information about what is happening:

There was a recent OTA update for Android 7.0 that is causing confusion for some Nexus 6 users. For those of you that want to guarantee future OTA updates, you will need to get back on the 7.0 supported track. If you are experiencing issues after accepting the 7.0 update, please factory reset your device to help resolve any problems.

For any Nexus 6 users that want to continue flashing/sideloading future builds, you can stay on 7.1.1 and continue to do so.

So Nexus 6 owners have a choice: stick with the official supported version of Android and revert back to version 7.0, or go it alone with 7.1.1.