14 DAY TRIAL // Coincidence or not, the Nexus 4 was launched four years ago, which means it's not supported by Google anymore. There are no major software updates that are supposed to hit Google's previous flagship smartphone, but that doesn't necessarily mean the Nexus 4 is completely dead.
The Nexus 4 is a great device, so it could survive four years without an issue. This means that if you couldn't afford to buy another phone to replace it, or simply didn't want to, there was no reason to do it other than the fact that Google wouldn't support it with software updates.
When Google announced Android 7.0 Nougat, the Nexus 4 wasn't among the compatible devices, which wasn't a surprise at all.
The search giant announced that it would offer regular software updates to all Nexus/Pixel devices that are about 1 year and a half old.
Anything older than that is not guaranteed to receive another major Android OS update, so Nexus 4 was skipped from the list of Android Nougat supported devices.
However, one group of Android enthusiasts doesn't want to let the Nexus 4 die. Cyanogen has just confirmed that the 4-year-old smartphone will be getting an Android 7.1 Nougat update at some point.
For the time being, an experimental build for the Nexus 4 (mako) is available for download, so those who want to try it out before the final version gets released can now flash the new ROM on their phones.
Aside from the Nexus 4, a couple of other older smartphones will be getting CyanogenMod 14.1 nightlies, or have already got one.
Here is a list of devices that Cyanogen supports with Android 7.1 Nougat builds: Nexus 5 (CAF), T-Mobile LG G3, LG G Pad 8.3, Asus ZenPad 8.0, Sony Xperia M, and Samsung Galaxy S5 (AU).