Android 7.1 Nougat seems to be filled with small touches and little benefits, and while some of these, like the App Shortcuts, are out there right in the open for everyone to see pretty clearly, others are tucked away in the nooks and crannies of the software. This is the case with Google’s baked in easy access to the security bulletin. While you could easily open up your browser and navigate to the site on your own, or have it bookmarked to make things even faster, or even Google search it from the Google search bar widget or Google app, if you’re on an Android 7.1 Nougat device it’s about as simple as it’s going to get, for now at least.
With the latest version of the Android software, Google makes it possible to bring up the security bulletin for the Android Security Patch by simply tapping on the details for “Android Security Patch Level” from within the settings menu of your phone. In doing this, your browser of choice opens up right to the most recent security bulletin that Google has posted, eliminating any fuss or hassle that might come along with tracking down the bulletin on your own. For now there are only a few devices which can rightfully make use of this information, which are of course, the Google Pixel and Pixel XL, as well as the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, and Pixel C tablet as those three devices can now run Android 7.1 Nougat via the developer preview that was just released on October 19th.
If you were unaware of the security patch level details being listed in the About Phone section of the settings, you likely aren’t alone as it’s only been around since Stagefright first hit the scene, and with monthly updates to patch newly found bugs, this information can be very useful in helping users ascertain which security patch level they have before moving onto the latest build. This is a pretty small thing to be excited about, and there will surely be many users who find this less than exciting, but for anyone who likes to be on the up and up when it comes to any information about their device, this will prove to be an enjoyable little perk.