Google tends to roll out a new security patch for all its supported Pixel devices at the beginning of every month.

While the company has already released the January 2022 security patch for older Pixel devices starting from the Pixel 3a through the Pixel 5a series, its latest and greatest phones—the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro—are still stuck on the November 2021 patch. Here's why.

A Buggy December 2021 Patch

woman holding google pixel 6 smartphone feature
Image Credit: Google

Google did release the December 2021 security patch for the Pixel 6 series. It was a part of the December Pixel Feature Drop update that contained plenty of bug fixes as well as some new features. While other Pixel phones got the OTA update soon after the release, the Pixel 6's rollout started towards the end of the second week of December.

However, the update never really made it to many Pixel 6 owners, forcing some to manually sideload it by downloading the image files from Google's developer page. As if that was not enough, the patch ended up introducing more bugs than it fixed, including mobile connectivity and call drops and disconnection issues.

In the end, Google announced on its support forums that it was pausing the December security patch rollout for the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. It also recommended users who had already installed the December 2021 update downgrade to the November patch.

The image files for the buggy December 2021 update were available to download on Google's developer website so far, but the company finally pulled it after January's security patch was released.

Related: Why Your Pixel 6 Doesn't Charge as Quickly as You Expected

The January 2022 Patch is Coming, Just Not Now

The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro will get the January 2021 update, just not at the same time as other Pixel phones. While the older Pixels are already getting the update, the newest Pixels are scheduled to get it in "late January."

Google is presumably taking the additional time to ensure the update is not as buggy as the previous two releases and that it actually manages to fix all the various issues plaguing the phones this time around.

A Buggy Experience

Sadly, while Google's latest Pixel phones pack an impressive spec sheet, the experience with them has been less than stellar due to all the bugs. What's worse is that Google is taking its own sweet time fixing them, which is not an experience that most users would like.