Tag: Google Pixel

A new beta of Google Play Service is currently available and it is bringing a much desired fix to the “Check for Update” button on Google Pixel devices.  The new beta build is version 12.2.09 and multiple sources are reporting that at least on the Pixel 2 lineup, you can actually tap the “Check for Update” option in Settings and it will immediately go download the new February Android Security Update patches.

The Check for Update button has been broken for a while now.  A fix was to come with Android Oreo but an update to Google Play Services, the culprit in all of the issues, broke it again late last year.  Google then indicated that a fix would be coming in 2018.  That fix now appears to be happening.

Google has released the January 2018 Android Security Update patches for the Google Nexus and Pixel lineup of devices.  Normally the patches are released on the first Monday of the first full week in any given month.  Given that yesterday was New Years Day and a holiday, it was delayed until today.

Like previous Android Security Update patches, there are two that have been released.  The first patch is dated January 1 and primarily focuses on core Android fixes and addressing security vulnerabilities.  In this patch there are a total of 20 fixes included, four of which are considered critical fixes.

Google has made a small but significant change to the way that Google Pixel devices measure estimated battery life.  The update replaces a simple model that was on the devices that could produce some wildly inaccurate measurements and results.

The news of the update came via the Pixel Product Help Site and essentially, the new model now looks at how you actually use your phone rather than making estimates based on your previous hour of usage.  Before this change, if you used 10% of your battery in an hour, the model would assume that you would continue to use your batter at a 10% per hour clip.  This resulted in some discrepancies if you went above or below that 10% rate.  The change to the model gives more personalized results.

To fix this, we built an on-device model that evaluates how you use your phone’s battery over time. Your phone looks at your battery usage on similar days and times, and uses that to predict your battery life in a personalized way.

The cool thing is, this is all a cloud-side change that Google pushed out so if you have a Pixel device, you likely already have this change in place.

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.

As expected with it being the first Monday of the month, Google has released the Android Security Update for October.  While there are still two patches that were released per the norm, they contain far fewer patches and fixes than normal.

The first updated, dated October 1st, is general Android fixes and contains a total of 8 patches and fixes, three of which are considered critical.  The second patch, dated October 5th, has 6 total fixes with 2 of them marked as critical.  As a reminder, the Google Pixel and Nexus devices will be getting the October 5th updates, which are cumulative to the 1st, and is aimed at hardware specific driver fixes for those devices.

So here’s a concept:  A button that actually does something.  For years, the “Check for update” button in Android pretty much did nothing.  Sure you could hit it but the odds of you getting an update were pretty slim.  Why?  Because manufactures like Google, Samsung and others as well as carriers phase updates out to their customers.  The result?  The “Check for update” button was, by-and-large, useless.

That’s changing under Android Oreo, specifically for the Google Nexus and Pixel devices.  Now when you tap that button in Settings>System>System Updates, it actually, really goes out to Google’s servers and download the latest OTA update.  No waiting on phasing.