Japan’s Sony Mobile may have sounded the death-knell for its Xperia Z smartphone line in terms of any further hardware launches, but the company is still providing software updates to some of its more recent Xperia Z-series devices. According to a report, the Japanese consumer electronics major has started rolling out a new update to the entire Xperia Z5 line as well as the Xperia Z3+ that brings some security enhancements as well as a number of bug fixes to the devices. The official changelog apparently indicates that the new software will also increase the volume of ringtones and notifications, as well as iron out a few Bluetooth-related issues.
There’s no word at the moment on how big the download is, but the new software comes with build number 32.2.A.0.305 and is expected to be rolled out to the Xperia Z4 tablet in the near future, although Sony is yet to clarify its plans officially on that front. In case you are the owner of one of the devices that are receiving the new software, it is important to note that the Android version remains at 6.0.1 Marshmallow and the update does not come with any new features either, except for a quirky new ‘Charging Optimization’ option that allows users to adjust the amount of maximum charge the phone’s battery can take. Users can access the feature by going over to the ‘About Phone’ option in the Settings menu and tapping on ‘Status’.
Unfortunately, though, Sony does not seem to reveal the Android security patch level that the new software comes with. The company has failed to follow Google’s schedule in rolling out monthly security bulletins for its devices, something that other manufacturers like Samsung has done more regularly in recent times. Reports claim that the devices are currently only updated to the April 2016 Android security patch level prior to the rollout of the latest software. As is usually the case, the update is expected to be rolled out in a phased manner, so it might take a while for you to get the notification. However, you may check manually to see if the incoming update is available for your device.