Why No Nexus 6 Security Update in November?

That's the $1 million question. (In addition to whether or not we'll be receiving the Nougat 7.1 or even 7.1.1 update that is). I just submitted a post to this board asking the same question yesterday (no responses yet which is curious). According to AT&T, the Nexus 6 November security patch was approved and released on 11/5 and updated again on 11/17 (build MMB31C). My guess is that there's issues causing conflicts with the device so AT&T has yanked it. All other carriers have released this patch from Google for Nexus 6 via OTA. It seems only AT&T is holding it up yet another OTA update (a growing trend). About five days ago I spoke with customer care and of course they played dumb, saying to wait until the December security patch release starts today 12/5. But who knows if we'll even be getting that update? All I know is that my phone is still stuck on MMB30Y for October with no new OTA in sight. (Yes, I can flash it but shouldn't have to.) I think AT&T has abandoned us.

https://forums.att.com/t5/Phone-Device-Upgrades/No-November-Security-Update/m-p/4995666

@GLIMMERMAN76

Yeah but no OTA ever came through for this update on Nexus 6 devices on AT&T. Even customer care somewhat aknowledged this by suggesting to just wait until the December security patch. So who knows?

Ditto, got the November patch on my work Nexus 6. Although now that I think about it, I got it only after Thanksgiving.

@GLIMMERMAN76, the link you posted is for a patch to 6.0.1. I can't say from personal experience whether that one was actually delivered to phones, as I downloaded and flashed 7.0 when Google released it. Maybe the problem is that AT&T hasn't officially released the 7.0 update and therefore doesn't think anyone needs the 7.0 patch stream.

Either way, it's pretty pathetic. Complaints about the timing/content of Nougat on the Nexus 6 aside, Google's been doing a good job with security patches; it's the least AT&T could do to release them in a timely manner (those I have received have typically arrived a week or more after the Google release). Yes, I can flash the OTAs myself (Google's now publishing them as well), but why do I have to deal with that?

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@whopkins wrote:

@GLIMMERMAN76, the link you posted is for a patch to 6.0.1. I can't say from personal experience whether that one was actually delivered to phones, as I downloaded and flashed 7.0 when Google released it. Maybe the problem is that AT&T hasn't officially released the 7.0 update and therefore doesn't think anyone needs the 7.0 patch stream.

 

Either way, it's pretty pathetic. Complaints about the timing/content of Nougat on the Nexus 6 aside, Google's been doing a good job with security patches; it's the least AT&T could do to release them in a timely manner (those I have received have typically arrived a week or more after the Google release). Yes, I can flash the OTAs myself (Google's now publishing them as well), but why do I have to deal with that?

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@whopkins

yelp I know its still MM but the patch was pushed its also why google is still pushing MM updates on the nexus 6.

Verizon didnt push 7.0 till Nov 22nd.  tmobile has yet to push 7.0 and sprint did it in october... The updates for the phone are all over the place in timing is the problem.  Thats why verizon is only selling the pixel.

@GLIMMERMAN76

I realize it's a hopeless cause, but I don't care about them "pushing" anything, I just wish they'd get out of the way and let Google push it (which is, I think, how it actually works -- Google makes it available, and AT&T is just a gatekeeper).  Even if they didn't enable the 7.0 upgrade, the least they could do is enable the 7.0 patch stream, so that those who upgraded manually could get the security patches (which Google is also putting out for 7.0 on N6, alongside the 6.0.1 patches).

Sigh. Two years later, they still haven't updated their IMEI database, and my phone still shows up in "my account" online as "unknown device", with a generic picture of a smartphone.

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@whopkins wrote:

@GLIMMERMAN76

I realize it's a hopeless cause, but I don't care about them "pushing" anything, I just wish they'd get out of the way and let Google push it (which is, I think, how it actually works -- Google makes it available, and AT&T is just a gatekeeper).  Even if they didn't enable the 7.0 upgrade, the least they could do is enable the 7.0 patch stream, so that those who upgraded manually could get the security patches (which Google is also putting out for 7.0 on N6, alongside the 6.0.1 patches).

 

Sigh. Two years later, they still haven't updated their IMEI database, and my phone still shows up in "my account" online as "unknown device", with a generic picture of a smartphone.

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@whopkins

actually the nexus 6 was the first phone allow carrier bloat.  each carrier with the nexus 6 had to approve the build google could not release it.  Its funny your n6 does not show up on your account page since mine and the wifes pixel xl shows up.  My nexus 6p also shows up.

@GLIMMERMAN76

Did you buy your N6 from AT&T?  Can't remember if I bought mine from Motorola or Google, but it wasn't from AT&T because I wanted to avoid the AT&T branding and the pre-installed bloat.  I was able to avoid the actual bloatware by setting up the phone before I put my SIM in, but there are still behaviors (tethering, updates), that are controlled by carrier-specific provisioning logic based on what SIM is installed.  And because the IMEIs for AT&T units were different from the Motorola- and Google-sold units, mine isn't in the database.

(FWIW, the Verizon Galaxy Nexus -- sadly, the only other Nexus I've owned -- also had some bloatware and glacially slow updates.)