Google has published the February 2021 Android Security Bulletin. And with it, the company has also released the latest security patch for Pixel phones. Pixel phones from the 3 series through to the Pixel 5 are all now receiving the February 2021 Android security patch with a new update. The Google Pixel 2 series have already reached their end of life. The 2017 Google phones received their last software update in December 2020.
Along with all the vulnerabilities found in the Android OS, the latest security maintenance release also fixes a couple of issues specific to Pixel phones. Firstly, Google promises this update to fix the touchscreen issue on the Pixel 4a 5G. Several users have reported that their new Pixel phone has stopped responding properly to touches on the lower portion of the display following the December update. This issue also apparently affected some Pixel 5 units.
Google had promised to fix this issue with the February 2021 Android security patch. And according to the release notes on the Pixel Update Bulletin for February 2021, the latest update does bring “further tuning and improvements for touch experience” on both Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5.
Additionally, the latest update also contains “fix for issue preventing certain sensor detection on startup”. Google doesn’t detail the issue but it apparently affected all Pixel phones from the 3 series to the 5. It’s unclear if the Pixel 2 and older devices are also affected by this issue. As mentioned earlier, Google is no longer pushing updates to the Pixel 2 series.
The February security update also introduces the patch for a moderate-severity vulnerability affecting a closed-source Qualcomm component on Pixel phones. The OTA update with the latest security patch should be available for all eligible Pixel phones in the coming weeks.
Google details the contents of the February 2021 Android security patch
Samsung began rolling out the February 2021 Android security patch to its Galaxy smartphones last week. The update was first released for the Galaxy S20 series in a handful of European countries. It has now arrived for the US versions of the devices as well. Additionally, Samsung has also started to push the latest security update to the Galaxy Note 20 series.
Since Google hadn’t published the Android Security Bulletin for February 2021, the contents of the latest security maintenance release were not known until now. This month’s update contains fixes for as many as six critical and dozens of high-risk Android OS vulnerabilities.
One of the vulnerabilities could allow a malicious app to bypass user interaction requirements and gain access to additional permissions. The latest security update should hit all eligible Android smartphones in the coming weeks, depending on the device model and the region.