You Need to Update Your Pixel Devices Right Now
Security updates can’t be ignored: they fix critical issues with your technology that could compromise your privacy, security, and data. So when a company like Google releases a new security update for a device like your Pixel, you should take note and install the update as soon as possible.
Google released the April security update for Pixel devices on Monday, April 4th. The new update covers most of the Pixel lineup, including the Pixel 3a, Pixel 4, Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 5, Pixel 5a, Pixel 6, and Pixel. 6 Pro (as well as any XL variants). Unfortunately, you won’t see the update on the Pixel 1, 2, or 3.
There are 44 security patches in total, 14 of which are dated April 1, 2022, and the remaining 30 are dated April 4, 2022. Nine of these vulnerabilities are rated “critical” and the rest are rated “high”. All critical security vulnerabilities relate to either Qualcomm components or closed source Qualcomm components.
However, this does not mean that the severity of vulnerabilities is rated as “high”. According to Google, the worst of these flaws can allow attackers to elevate local privileges on your system or lead to remote information disclosure, all without having to click on anything suspicious (or phishing) first. Overall, this update fixes many potentially dangerous security flaws and should be installed as soon as possible.
April security updates fix bugs
While security patches are the main reason to install this new update as soon as possible, they are not your Pixel’s only benefit. This update also contains bug fixes that you might find useful.
Pixel 6 and 6 Pro users will find three bug fixes exclusive to their devices related to wireless charging and camera issues:
Battery charge
- Additional wireless charging performance improvements with some accessories.
Camera
- Fixed an issue that caused the front camera preview to appear enlarged in some apps.
- Fixed an issue that sometimes caused a green screen to appear when previewing the camera.
Pixel 3a and newer users will see the following UI updates on their device:
User interface
- Fixed a crash in the system UI when using apps in Picture-in-Picture (PIP) mode under certain conditions.
- Fixed an issue that caused an error message to be displayed when setting certain live wallpapers.
- Fixed an issue that caused the notification shade and quick settings to appear invisible after changing wallpaper under certain conditions.
- We fixed an issue where the animation would sometimes not display correctly when canceling a search in the app drawer.
- Fixed an issue where navigation on the overview screen was sometimes blocked when TalkBack was active.
- We fixed an issue where the Recent button would sometimes interfere with the overview when using three-button navigation in third-party launchers.
How to update your Pixel to the latest security version
Updating your Pixel is very easy. Open the Settings app, go to the Security section and check for new updates. If the April security update is available, you’ll see it as the following build, depending on your device:
- Pixel 3a (XL): SP2A.220405.003
- Pixel 4 (XL): SP2A.220405.003
- Pixel 4a: SP2A.220405.003
- Pixel 4a (5G): SP2A.220405.003
- Pixel 5: SP2A.220405.003
- Pixel 5a (5G): SP2A.220405.003
- Pixel 6: SP2A.220405.004
- Pixel 6 Pro: SP2A.220405.004
Google is still rolling out the update, so you might not see it on your device just yet. If you want to manually install it, you can find the factory image and OTA download for your device at the bottom of this 9to5Google page .
[ 9to5Google ]