It’s only been a couple of weeks since Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro devices started receiving Google’s March Pixel drop of new features, improvements, and fixes, and now the company has started the rollout of an April update (via 9to5Google).
According to Google, wireless charging updates and camera fixes for the Pixel 6 lineup should improve performance with certain (unspecified) accessories and crush bugs that could zoom in the front-facing camera preview with certain apps or pop up a green screen in the camera preview.
Tweaks that apply to all phones receiving the update (from the Pixel 3a to any devices released more recently) can address problems with live wallpapers, crashes during the use of picture-in-picture, and a problem that could black out the notification shade and Quick Settings. An accompanying security bulletin also details several security flaws addressed by this latest update and for other Android devices with a security patch level of April 5th or later.
There’s no note of a fix or change for Pixel 6 and 6 Pro owners who don’t appreciate the weakened haptic vibration effect that arrived for many devices with the March update. Even as reports on Reddit and its owner forum pile up, Google has not responded to my inquiries about that issue. However, on March 25th, Review Geek reported it’d received a statement from Google that said, “This was an update meant to take advantage of the more advanced Pixel 6 haptics capabilities, but we understand it is not an optimal experience for all users. We are continuously trying to provide a better long term solution in the future and will plan to address that feedback in an upcoming update.”
If you don’t have the update on your Pixel device yet, that’s because Google is rolling it out “over the next week in phases depending on carrier and device. Users will receive a notification once the OTA becomes available for their device.” If you can’t wait, Google has made OTA and factory images of the latest update available, which you can install using its Android Flash Tool by following our instructions here. Whether or not you want to do that may depend on your appetite for risk — the Android 12 update experience has been a rocky one so far.
