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Pixel OG fast charging bug fixed in October update

By JC Torres/

One of the perks of owning a Google phone is that you are guaranteed regular monthly updates for up to two or three years, depending on what kind of update. What you're not guaranteed, however, are completely bug-free updates. Owners of the first Pixel and Pixel XL "Made by Google" phones learned that the hard way when they discovered almost two months ago that the Android 9 Pie update broke fast charging capabilities. Now two months later, the fix is hopefully rolling out to everyone.

Software bugs are inevitable but you could be forgiven if Pixel owners are not at all amused. Google doesn't make that many smartphones yet and, given the purity of Android it extols on the Pixel phones, you'd expect it could do a better job than, say Essential. And then there were also some conspiracy theories regarding "planned obsolescence".

Fortunately, it was only a minor bug that prevented some Pixel XL and Pixel owners from taking advantage of that sweet fast charging time. And even then, the number of affected models were reportedly small and almost random. And even better, the fix is now here. At least according to the October Security Bulletin for Google devices.

That bulletin actually doesn't include any security fixes and mostly functional patches. Included there is an "Improved fast-charging behavior for Pixel devices" that only applies to the OG Pixels. Perhaps they meant "fixed" rather than "improved". Same difference. Now we just need Pixel owners to verify it has indeed been addressed.

On that note, the October security bulletin for Android in general has also been posted. Unsurprisingly, Essential is again at the forefront, being the first non-Google device to get the update. Along with a fix that returns the ability to "hide" the notch.

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