The Pixel 6 is getting a few tweaks, and earlier phones get one or two. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales
Google is rolling out its February update for Pixel phones running Android 12, which is meant to fix a few camera, Bluetooth, and keyboard issues. The company says that some users will start getting the update today and that the “rollout will continue over the next week in phases depending on carrier and device.” Google’s previous update process was a bit of a fiasco for Pixel 6 owners, so hopefully, this one ends up being more routine.
If you’ve got one of Google’s latest phones, the Pixel 6 or 6 Pro, this update contains:
A fix for the bug that could cause your phone to reboot while using the camera
Fixes for audio playback disconnecting with certain Bluetooth devices
Improvements to Bluetooth audio quality for certain codecs
A fix for the keyboard covering up your input text in certain conditions
That keyboard fix is also coming to the other Android 12-capable Pixel phones, like the Pixel 3a, 4, 4a, 5, and 5a.
Given how little this update seems to change, it seems unlikely that it’ll cause too many problems — though it’d be hard to blame Pixel 6 owners for being a bit wary. Google ended up pausing its December update (which was supposed to bring a ton of improvements and bug fixes) because it caused connectivity issues for its latest phones. Those fixes were eventually bundled with the January update, though you can still find people on Reddit saying their fully updated Pixel 6 gets terrible reception.
While the February update does promise “connectivity fixes for specific carrier networks,” Google’s update page indicates that only applies to the Pixel 4, 4a 5G, and 5, not the 6.
To check if it’s available for your phone, you can go to Settings > System > System Update. It’s a relatively small update, under 30MB, so it shouldn’t take a terribly long time to download.