Google has released its January 2019 security patch update which addresses a number of vulnerabilities on the kernel and system level.
The update is available for all Pixel devices, including smartphones and the Pixel C tablet as well. The update is available for more recent devices running Android 9 Pie, as well as older devices which won’t receive major updates past Android 8.1 Oreo.
Besides the usual security and vulnerability fixes, the change log for this update includes improved audio quality when recording videos on the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL:
| References | Category | Improvements | Devices |
|---|---|---|---|
| A-113776612, A-118022272 | Audio | Improved audio quality when recording videos | Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL |
Nexus devices, which received an extra security update last month (beyond the 3 years of promised updates) have not, as yet, received a January 2019 security patch update, and they’re not likely to.
The January 2019 security patch update for Pixel devices are now available to download (OTA files and factory images) with the updates to roll out OTA within the next few days to weeks.
Be nice if this fixed the crappy call quality. I VoLTE rarely works on outgoing calls, sometimes works on incoming calls. There is a huge thread on the Google product forums which suggests this is a software issue rather than hardware or carrier.
I hope the fix for audio on video also applies to Pixel 2 – I found that audio on my Pixel 2 xl was hissy when played back