That security patch date on your Android phone is no longer the full story

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Credit: Rita El Khoury / Android Authority


TL;DR

• Google’s new Security State libraries let apps check the security status of individual Android components instead of relying only on the overall security patch level.
• Apps can also check whether a security update is available and ready for installation, potentially prompting users before they perform sensitive tasks.
• A phone can now be recognized as protected even if its overall security patch date hasn’t changed, as long as it has received the specific security fix.

Until now, your Android phone’s security patch level and the date attached to it have served as an easy way for apps and businesses to check whether your phone is up to date. But it doesn’t always tell the complete story.




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