Google’s April Pixel Updates Are Here, Including For The Brand-New Pixel 9a
Lanh Nguyen / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google’s latest monthly updated is now available for Pixel 6 and newer hardware.
- This is the first monthly update to land for the new Pixel 9a.
- In addition to some fixes for annoying bugs, the patch addresses a critical security issue.
Google’s smartphone family just got a little bit bigger, as the company’s latest addition, the Pixel 9a, has finally landed. Even as you mull over which Pixel 9a carrier deal offers the best perks, Google is already treating the new kid on the block to just the sort of reliable software support we expect from the company, and today that means a fresh batch of security updates.
The April 2025 updates for Pixel phones and tablets are here, and Google shares a host of bugfixes, just as we’d expect:
Biometrics
- Fix for issues with fingerprint recognition and response under certain conditions.
Camera
- Fix for improvements in camera stability when zooming in/out under certain conditions.
Display & Graphics
- Fix for issue with screen brightness flickering when using video streaming apps under certain conditions.
User Interface
- Fix for issue with overlapping views on lockscreen weather clock under certain conditions.
- Fix for issue with Pixel Launcher when creating a new user or switching users under certain conditions.
Most of these are broadly targeted across the Pixel lineup, but that camera fix is specific for Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 devices, along with the OG Fold.
That flickering fix is one we’ve been waiting for since first noticing the problem last month. While Google was quick to get a patch out for Android 16 testers, most of us are still on the stable track, and this is our first taste of a fix.
Google also shares some security patches included as part of this release, and one in particular, targeting Google Assistant, is rated “critical” severity — you’re not going to want to wait one minute more than you have to before updating your phone. While OTAs will be incoming via notification for all Pixel users eventually, maybe this is one month where it’s worth thinking about sideloading that OTA yourself.
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