Category: Android Security Update

The Google Pixel 2 lineup, particularly the XL, have had a raft of user complaints about the displays on the devices.  The two chief complaints have been around the color saturation and “burn-in” on the screen, particularly with the navigation keys on the screen.  For their part, Google has rightfully explained that some of the issues are related to the P-OLED display that is used on the Pixel 2 XL but committed to having updates out for the lineup to address those issues.

Those updates are a part of the November Android Security Update which was released yesterday.  In amongst those updates, there are two specific items for the phone that address these items.  First, there is now a new color saturation setting in the Display settings of the device.  Now you have the option to select “Saturated” to enhance the color vibrance.  This should help enhance the colors on the phone, particularly the XL model where the complaints have been the loudest.

With it being the Monday of the first full week of the month, Google’s Android team has released the November Android Security Update today.  The full version for those who want to manually flash their devices as well as the OTA incremental updates are now both available.  Users of eligible Pixel devices and Nexus devices can expect the update to hit their devices in the coming days.

Normally the Android Security Update patches consist of two patches but for November, there are three.  The first patch, dated November 1st, contains 11 fixes as does the second, November 5th patch.  Like previous months, the patch for the 1st contains system level fixes while the one for the 5th contains driver and device specific fixes for the Pixel and Nexus devices.

The third patch, dated November 6th, contains nine fixes which are aimed at fixing WiFi vulnerabilities.

Google Pixel devices will be getting the November 5th update as they have already received the WiFi fixes.

You can read all of the details in the Security Bulletin for this month’s releases.

Google as a general rule has done a good job of getting fixes out to their devices in a timely manner.  This time however, they failed.

A small subset of Google Pixel owners have been experiencing not receiving SMS messages after upgrading to Android Oreo on their Pixel or Pixel XL.  The problem seems somewhat isolated to Verizon customers but users on other carriers have been impacted too.  The bug first popped up a couple of weeks ago and there is a long thread about the issue in the Google Product Forums.  It appears that it took a while for Google to pinpoint exactly what the issue was but now are stating they have gotten to the bottom of it.

We want to let you all know that we have been able to identify and implement a fix for this issue. Thank you to those that sent over bug reports and for including detailed information here on this thread.

There was an issue introduced in the release of Android Oreo that affects text message (SMS) delivery for a subset of Pixel (not Pixel 2) users.This issue was only seen on a small number of carriers. Unfortunately this has resulted in devices getting into a state where they do not receive messages.

The problem is that users who are impacted by this issue will have to wait until the November Android Security Update to get the fix.  That’s right, you get to live with it for at least another 2 weeks.

Good news this morning for those of you who have the Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8 Plus.  The company has begun rolling out an update that brings the October Android Security Update to the devices.  Software version G955FXXU1AQI9 is rolling out to unlocked variants of the phone and along with the security fixes, there are some other improvements to be found.  The update is 479MB in size so it is advised that you be connected to WiFi when you download it to install.

The biggest thing with the October update is a fix for Bluetooth issues that impacted all Android devices.  There are, of course, a wide range of other fixes and security updates too.

LG has quietly updated their Security Bulletins page on their support site, dropping support for several older G-Series phones with the September update.  The G3, G4, G4 Stylus and LG Stylo have all been removed from the support list meaning that it is highly unlikely they will be getting updates going forward.

That isn’t too surprising.  The G3 for example was released in May 2014 so the fact that the company was providing updates to it at all some 3 years down the road was impressive.

Without any notification or explanation, Google has extended the security update support for the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P an additional two months.  Both phones will now receive minor software patches until November 2018.

The change is reflected in an update to the Nexus Android version page on Google Support and appears to be the only changes to the schedule which the company adopted in 2016.