Today is the first Monday of the month, and you know what that translates to, right? A Google Android monthly update. These are usually only about security fixes, but not this time around, as there are a bunch of Pixel-specific non-security issues resolved too.
Speaking of Pixels, the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL have reached the end of the line when it comes to software updates, three years after their launch. The new November 2021 update is only headed to the Pixel 3a that launched in May 2019 and devices that were released later on.
As to what has been fixed, unfortunately, the widely reported screen flickering issue on the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro is not, but Google has outed a statement saying those fixes will arrive with the December update.
That is yet another month of waiting for the new Pixel 6/ 6 Pro owners, sadly.
Here’s what was actually fixed, an issue that prevented notification sounds in certain scenarios, there are improvements in audio quality in certain scenarios and wireless charging in certain orientations, stability improvements for certain third-party apps, better auto-brightness response in certain lighting conditions, improved transition animation performance in the Overview screen in certain conditions, improved Picture-in-Picture media playback with select apps, and improved connection stability.
In addition to this, fixes for an incorrect showing off an app’s icon after installation, and the way the keyboard displayed over apps in certain conditions, as well as UI elements being hidden have all been packed in too.
Not all of these apply to all of the currently supported Pixels, if you want to know exactly what goes where then head over to Google’s official Pixel Blog Post linked here.
You can see which build number your Pixel is getting with this update as well in the above link. If you are interested in the specific security fixes applied, then click here to get an in-depth look into the details.
As with all Google updates, expect the rollout of this one to take a couple of days at least, if not weeks until it reaches all of the eligible devices out there.
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