How to Get the January Android Security Update Now
Google ‘s January 2019 monthly Android Pie security update is available now. As with previous updates, it fixes numerous potential security flaws in the Android OS that could be exploited by hackers and malware. While these fixes are applicable to all Android Pie devices, the January update also includes fixes for the Pixel 3 and 3 XL that will reportedly improve audio quality for video recording.
The update began rolling out to all devices this week. However, you may not have received a notification that your phone is ready for an update. In this case, you can download and manually install the update yourself. It’s harder than just waiting for the update notification to appear, but you’ll get security fixes right away, and if you’re a Pixel 3 user, better audio recording fixes. Here’s how to do it.
Installing Android Pie OTA Updates Manually
Before you actually download and install the update on your phone, we need to properly configure everything on the computer from which we will transfer the update files.
- Download the appropriate OTA file for the specified Android device to your computer from the Google Developers site.
- Download ADB and Fastboot to your PC , then follow our guide to install and configure ADP for your PC’s operating system. At first glance, this may seem a little complicated, but in fact the process is simple and will only take a couple of minutes. Alternatively, you can follow the installation method on the X DA for ADB Developers page . The process is slightly different but ends up doing the same.
After installing and configuring ADB on your PC and downloading the OTA file, we can start the update process on your Android device by downloading it.
- Turn off your Android device, then turn it back on while holding down the power button and volume down button to boot into bootloader settings. When Boot Loader Settings appears, use the Volume keys to scroll through the options until Recovery Mode is highlighted, then quickly press (but do not hold) the Power button to select it.
- When you first enter recovery mode, all you’ll see is an image of the Android mascot lying with a red error icon over the open case and the words “No command” on the screen. Seeing this, press and hold the power button for a while, then press the volume up button. After that, you will be taken to the recovery mode menu.
- Using the volume keys, scroll down to “Apply update from ADB” and press the power button to select it. You will now see a black screen with a little text at the bottom, but nothing has happened yet.
- Connect your Android device to your computer using a USB cable (your phone’s charger should work for this).
- On your PC, open a Command Prompt window (either Command Prompt or Powershell on Windows, or Terminal on macOS / Linux) and enter the following command depending on your operating system: Windows: “adb sideload” macOS / Linux: “./ adb sideload “
- Enter the name of the .zip file of the OTA update and press Enter to start the update.
- If everything is configured correctly, you will see a progress bar on both your PC and Android device showing the progress of the update installation.
- After the update is complete, use the volume keys of your Android device to navigate to Restart and select it using the power button. Then your device will reboot and boot normally with the update file applied.