Android 11: Updates are coming faster than ever but still very slow

Like almost every year, Google provided an update on the status of Android security updates during its Google I/O keynote. Google has been working for years to improve a situation complicated by the peculiarities of the Android ecosystemThe operating system is actually used by hundreds of different vendors, each offering several models, even several lines of devices, and almost as many different hardware.

It is this fragmentation that makes the delivery of security updates difficult because Each manufacturer must adapt the different patches offered to them each month by the AOSP project to each of their devices.. But for some time now, Google has been using various tricks that can improve the situation.

Android has made great progress with security updates

With Project Treble, for example, Google isolated manufacturer-related features in the code to deliver targeted updates without having to create a new, complete Android version each time. And as you’ll see, it’s pretty effective, even though it’s obvious, Google still has significant room for improvement.

So in the first quarter of 2021 we learn that: 95% of Android smartphones received security updates less than 90 days agoBut the Android ecosystem is still a long way from offering as consistent updates on iPhones as Apple, with the exception of some manufacturers like Google and Samsung.

As we pass by we learn that Samsung is now generally faster than Google when it comes to delivering security updates. Google also highlighted the role of Google Play Protection in improving the security of Play Store apps; thus, 50,000 malicious apps could be detected before they hit the Play Store.