The long-awaited January update for Google’s Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro is now live
ThePixel 6might’ve won the hearts of many writers here at Android Police — not to mentionour oh-so-coveted phone of the year award— but it’s had a couple of rough months. After abuggy launchand a software delay, theDecember patch arrived last month with a ton of fixes in tow. Unfortunately, it alsobroke cell reception on the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, leading to reduced signal strength for users around the globe beforeGoogle finally pulled the plug. If you’ve been patiently waiting for a January update to iron out these issues, Google finally has an update ready for you.
The company postedOTA images for both phonesto its developer site on Friday afternoon, hours afterCanadian carrier Fido initially hintedat a release scheduled for early next week.
This update bringsall the changes initially promised with the December releaseto Google’s latest phones, along with theimprovements brought to older devices earlier this month. In addition to Pixel 6-specific bug fixes, it should include a patch for the Teams-related 911 glitch and the reintroduction of Cast volume controls. While the cell signal issues have been a major thorn in the side of Pixel 6 owners everywhere, it’s important not to overlook the importance of the December update finally being available again. That particular patch included more than 100 changes and improvements, all of which should provide a much more stable experience.
Google has been under a lot of pressure to get this patch to users — and, even more importantly, to get it right. Even by the standards of a Pixel launch, this latest release isbuggy, and it’s been bad enough to scare some prominent users off altogether. Just this week, YouTuber MKBHD made it clear on Twitter he was returning to an S21 until his next review. That’s a bad look for Google, especially coming from someone with a following of his size.
With any luck, this patch should bring an end to all the headaches associated with this phone. You can grab theOTA filesor thefull factory imagesfrom Google’s respective websites.
UPDATE: 2022/01/14 15:15 EST BY WILL SATTELBERG
OTA files now live
Google published the OTA and factory image files for the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro’s January update on Friday afternoon. We’ve updated our coverage.
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