One of the best things about buying a Google Pixel is the speed with which you will receive updates. Today the October security update is rolling out to supported Pixel devices — Pixel 2 and newer. Not only does the update provide general security patches but also bug fixes for Pixel phones.

While none of the security patches are Pixel-specific there are quite a few with severity extending up to critical and high — the critical fixes are all involved in Qualcomm closed source components while there are a few high severity in MediaTek components. There are also some within the framework and system of Android itself. For more information check out the October Android security bulletin.

Pixel “functional patches”
We all love when things get improved with our phones and now there are some much-needed fixes coming for Pixel owners. The fixes include improved auto-rotation in some device orientations, auto-brightness improvements for the Pixel 4a, fixes for devices getting stuck during boot, a fix for undetected overview swipe gesture in the launcher and an improvement for the touch sensitivity of the Pixel 4a display while using a screen protector.

Although we prefer Pixel feature drops, functional patches are probably more important as they fix things that are broken. If you have a Pixel smartphone keep an eye on your notification shade for the update icon and hit the update button when it arrives.

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Dylan

I hope this fixes the notification shade being stuck permanently on while using full screen apps. Particularly annoying if playing a game in landscape and losing content across the top and bottom of the screen!

Mr Oliver Ward

Was hoping it’d fix the absence of functioning chat bubbles but i guess maybe next month?

Shane Wilson

I don’t believe there was ever an issue about Chat Bubbles not functioning as they are not enabled by default. Try opening Messages app>3 dot menu>Settings>Bubbles>make sure ‘All conversations can bubble’ is selected.

Warren

No fix for the phone always starting with speaker on?

Or would that be in the phone app updates itself?

Pixel 3