Google is releasing its November security update for Pixel phones, and it’s all about the practical fixes: the camera should be more reliable at booting up, your internet connection will constantly reconnect on certain networks, and emergency calls won’t be quite as much of a headache to place. The patch, which is rolling out with the Pixel’s latest feature drop for Android 16-powered Pixel phones, largely focuses on stability and reliability across regular activity.
What’s in the November Security Patch Update
Google’s release notes and the Pixel Security Bulletin indicate a host of issues have been covered, including in Audio, Battery & Charging, Camera, Framework and Telephony. Beneath the headline changes, Google also fixes a webcam mode issue that could interfere with connections to PCs and Chromebooks, and addresses a quirk that sometimes prevented apps from loading as they should. Like all previous monthly security updates, a number of CVEs are fully addressed (either in AOSP or in the Linux kernel) by each platform security update once again to further secure both Pixel and eligible non-Pixel devices.
Rollouts are staggered per region and carrier to reduce regressions. Google usually sends out the update to a small percentage of recipients, then broadens its scope as telemetry shows everything is working, ultimately sending it to all supported devices.
Camera Fix Targets Ultrawide and Telephoto Artifacts
One of the most noticeable fixes is for a camera bug that caused rainbow-esque discs of colors when using an ultrawide or telephoto lens in certain lighting and contrast scenarios. The patch is also supposed to alleviate “strange fringing” around bright highlights — neon signs at night, say, or sunlit tree edges against a dark background. The change probably touches Pixel’s image signal processing pipeline, in which tone mapping and demosaicing can make chromatic sins more obvious when extreme dynamic range collides with aggressive sharpening.
And if history is any guide, Google has largely tuned camera fixes through a combination of device firmware and software-side post-processing adjustments. That way, it’s still true to the Pixel look and feel, without necessitating that users reframe how they want their settings or workflows to work.
Tweaks to Battery and Charging for Longer Uptime
Power management receives a subtle-yet-significant makeover. Google is also promising better charging behavior and higher overall efficiency in common use cases to resolve concerns of erratic drainage patterns that could emerge following major platform updates. Look forward to more predictable idle draw, smoother overnight battery curves, and (hopefully) fewer situations in which background work leaves the CPU awake for longer than it should have been.
These sorts of optimizations typically include kernel scheduler tweaks, radio power state tuning and further refinements to Adaptive Battery. For users, the net effect is less time babysitting the charger and more confidence you won’t waste 30 minutes on the wrong half. The final 20% will act like 20%, not 10%.
More Reliable Emergency Calling Where It Matters
Crashes while placing emergency calls should also be resolved. The update doesn’t bring new features, but it does solidify call setup and the telephony stack paths used for emergency numbers — crucial in cases where milliseconds and reliability of routing count. This is complicated and does depend on the carriers, network status, etc., AMR/Wi‑Fi calling/ELS features. The patch is intended to lower edge-case failures so that calls connect faster and more reliably.
Even the smallest of bugs here can lead to outsized consequences, which is why Google — and carriers — tend to spend extra time testing across multiple networks before giving the go-ahead for broader deployment.
Rollout and Eligibility for Supported Pixel Devices
The update is available on all currently supported devices, from the Pixel 7a to the recent Pixel 10 series, and will be rolling out by region and carrier. The Pixel 6, the Pixel 6 Pro, the Pixel 6a, the Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro are particularly notable for being left without this patch upon release. No reasons have been given by Google, however, such delays are usually due either to further carrier validation, aligning modem firmware, or testing device-specific drivers.
If you are on a supported device, you’ll get a notification when the update is available. Staged rollouts can take a few days to complete, and Google is keeping an eye on crash reports and feedback before it makes the update available to all users.
How to Update and What to Expect After Installing
To try it yourself, go to Settings, then System, then Software Update. Make sure you have enough battery and storage, and connect to Wi‑Fi if downloading. In addition to all the daily post-update optimizations, you’ll also find cleaner ultrawide and telephoto shots in challenging lighting, more stable day-to-day battery life, and emergency calling that’s more reliable — as well as fixes for webcam mode and occasional app-loading stutters.
For the security-conscious users, the Pixel Security Bulletin lists all of the underlying vulnerabilities addressed in this update. Paired with the feature additions in the recent Pixel Drop, this month’s delivery isn’t as much about flashy new tricks and more about small ways to make your existing phone feel quietly better everywhere it matters.
