#android security update

The Reverse Forecast: your daily map of what not to do, drawn from the day’s most timely risks in markets, tech, and beyond. The Reverse Forecast — August 19, 2025 Don’t test Erin’s rip currents today. The major hurricane is staying offshore, but evacuations on Hatteras/Ocracoke and 15–25 ft surf mean overwash, dangerous rip currents, and beach erosion through Thursday. High tides will magnify…

Multiple times this week, I’ve updated mobile devices with security patches from Apple and Google. And every time, the user experience has left me feeling that these companies don’t think I need to know anything about the content of those patches. On my iPad mini 6 and my Google Pixel 5a, and then later on a review iPhone 11 (I don’t know why Apple PR hasn’t started charging me late fees on that…

Late or never Android updates remain a problem

Here’s yet another unintentional benefit of my shattering my Pixel 5a’s screen last weekend: an opportunity to reacquaint myself with how slowly many Android smartphone manufacturers still ooze out Google’s system updates. This is not a new problem, as I can see from re-reading a piece I wrote almost 10 years ago that’s aged a little too well. I had thought that architectural changes Google made…