Android: billions of smartphones to receive crucial security update

Google has announced that billions of Android smartphones will soon receive a security update. This is actually a feature present on Android 11 that removes permission from apps that have not been used for a long time to use your data. The purpose of this maneuver is to protect user data.

It has happened to all of us. We install an application, we give it the permissions required for its proper functioning (microphone, camera, calls) then we use it a little before giving it up. However, are the permissions granted still active, even after years, and therefore represent a flaw that Google would like to correct.

The Mountain View firm has announced the upcoming arrival of a security update for all Android 6 and above smartphones. The latter is directly inherited from Android 11, since it brings the automatic deletion of permissions after several months of sleep. In other words, if you don’t use an app for a while, she no longer has permission to use your data. Convenient for automatically filling gaps.

Android 6-10 will receive an update in December

This update will be deployed from December 2021 for old smartphones. Note that those running Android 11 and Android 12 (there will be some by then) will not be affected, since they already have this feature.

Moto Edge 20 test: the killer flagship that we did not expect, and yet …

This represents a huge update for Google, if not the biggest in its history. There are indeed 2.8 billion active users in the world and not all of them are on Android 11. By bringing this update up to Android 6 (released in 2015), Google is even targeting older models, the ones that are most likely to have flaws.

It’s rare to see Google go so far back in time but this update deserves it, so much it will bring to the level of security. In any case, if you have an “old” smartphone, you will get the update message in the next few months. In the meantime, we cannot recommend enough to clean up your mobile and remove the applications that you no longer use. We never know.

Source: Google