Google has started rolling out the July 2019 security patch today, for Pixel devices. It is available for all Pixel smartphones including the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL. So if you have any of those smartphones, you should see a new update coming in the next few days.
Usually with these security patches, Google will bundle a few bug fixes, and that is the case this time around. That includes “improved ‘OK Google’ and music detection” on the Pixel 2 and later. All Pixels also get improved Unicode Japanese language support. The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3a series see a fix for “some devices getting stuck during boot”, and “some devices getting stuck in EDL mode with a blank screen”. Google has also pushed some new performance improvements for the Titan M security chip.
There are 33 security vulnerabilities in the two security patches rolling out, starting today. There a few that are high and critical, but Google says that no one has been exploited by these vulnerabilities. Meaning that Google has been able to catch these before they are caught by hackers looking to cause harm.
Google, as it does every month, does not go into great detail about each of the security vulnerabilities it found. The reason for this is to keep users safe. Not everyone has this update (and right now, virtually no one does), and many won’t have it for a few months. So keeping the details of these vulnerabilities under wraps for now, is a good thing for users. As it keeps them safe until they are patched.
The OTAs are now available for sideloading, from Google. But you’re going to want to make sure you get the right version. As there are versions for different carriers, particularly for Verizon versus the unlocked Pixel smartphones. So make sure you do grab the right one and sideload it. That way you won’t run into any issues with it later on.
If you decide you don’t want to sideload the OTA and want to wait for it to come to your device “naturally”, that’s fine too. But when you do get the notification that the update is here, make sure to install it, and don’t put it off. As that could put you and your device in harms way, especially since there are people out there looking to hack Android devices and take advantage of those exploits. It’s always important to make sure that you install an update when it becomes available, and don’t put it off.
Essential has not yet announced the July 2019 patch for the PH-1, but that should be coming in the next few hours. Essential is usually pretty fast about getting updates out the door. So is BlackBerry. Samsung, LG, Motorola and others will be a bit slower, as they update devices on a staggered quarterly schedule. So your Galaxy S10 may never get the July patch, it could be the August or September one, with the July exploit patches included.