It’s fair to say that the Google Pixel range of smartphones have endured their fair share of bugs since consigning the Nexus name to history in 2016. The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL phones, released in October, have been no different, with multiple complaints from users.
However, with bugs comes the inevitable squishing process, and it seems the December security update for Android phones is Pixel phone users’ personal visit from the exterminators. The update features thirteen ‘functional patches’ that wipe out a number of known issues with all Pixel smartphones.
Of particular note is the “improved camera capture performance” fix, which should take care of that unfortunate issue where photos taken on Pixel devices were not being saved to the gallery.
There’s also a fix called “improved memory performance in certain circumstances”, which follows reports of certain apps crashing in the background thanks to the relatively meagre 4GB of RAM Google shipped the Pixel 3 phones with.
Related: Google Pixel 3 vs Pixel 2
Google is also taking the opportunity to improve notification visibility when the devices are docked on the Pixel Stand, while also improving hotword performance when using the same accessory. There’s also a number of improvements for Android Auto, Bluetooth performance, always-on display triggering and the camera’s autofocus and shutter performance.
You can see all of the fixes below:
Unfortunately there’s nothing for the tinny audio in video recordings, noted by some reviewers when compared to the most recent iPhone models. Google explained this away, claiming the tuning was deliberate in order to minimise background noise.
Back in October, the company said: “We made several advances in the audio recording capabilities of Pixel 3, including enabling stereo recording in landscape mode. When recording outdoors, our tuning is specifically designed to reduce background noise like wind and road noise and overly loud sounds and optimize for audible speech. To achieve this, we selectively de-emphasize some frequencies, which minimizes disruptive noises and optimizes the resulting audio. We do extensive user testing of our products to ensure they are tuned for real world usage, and we’re always looking at additional tuning opportunities based on user feedback.”
Have you experienced any bugs with your Pixel 3 smartphones? Or has it been plain sailing since embracing Google-made hardware Let us know @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
