April 2021 Android security patch rolling out now to Pixel phones

The April 2021 Android security patch is here! If you own a recent Google Pixel smartphone, you can perform a software update check now in System Settings to grab it. You can also update manually or simply wait for the OTA notification.

Related: Pixel Feature Drops: Google making old phones new again is great news for us all

However, according to the bulletin associated with the April 2021 Android security patch, there isn’t much to this update. Over at the Pixel Phone help site, Google listed all the changes, of which there are only a few:

If you’re one of the people facing that bootup error, you’ll likely be very happy to see this update. However, if you’re upset that the April 2021 Android security patch is a little anemic, you’ll need to get excited for June. Assuming Google sticks with its usual schedule, we should see a feature drop then, which would likely bring a whole slew of goodies.

If you don’t want to wait for the OTA alert on your Pixel phone, you can always manually update. To download the factory image or OTA, click the appropriate link below. Don’t have a Pixel phone? The Google Pixel 4a costs just $349 and is one of our favorite phones from 2020.

April 2021 Android security patch links

Note: These links are for unlocked models only. If you have a carrier-branded Pixel, you will need to visit here for factory images or here for OTA images.