First Android 10 patch improves Pixel gesture navigation, fixes several bugs

Abner Li | Oct 7 2019 - 11:08 am PT

While there was a small OTA late last month, the first sizable Android 10 update is rolling out today. The October security patch touts eight “functional patches” for all Pixel phones that range from gesture navigation to the Pixel Stand.

All three generations of Pixel phones and the Pixel 3a are getting “Gesture navigation stability improvements.” Categorized under UI, this should improve the new way to navigate around Android 10 by just swiping on the bottom white strip. Despite the beta period, it’s easy to come across bugs in the stable release, even when using older navigation methods like 2-button.

Other improvements in that category include fixes for “memory drain in UI,” “bootloop in certain device locale modes,” and “missing heads-up notifications,” with some users reporting about the latter issue. General “System stability improvements” are also touted in this Android 10 Pixel patch, along with “Wi-Fi stability improvements” for all eight phones.

For the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, there is a “Fix for missing notifications in Pixel Stand mode,” as well as “Sensor calibration improvements.”

The October security patch is rolling out today and includes a handful of security fixes, especially for the original Pixel and Pixel 2. Factory and OTA images are now available for this Android 10 Pixel patch.