Google has begun distributing its December 2025 software update to all supported Pixel devices, with a mix of fixes, performance improvements and the latest Android 16 QPR2 features.
The rollout started yesterday and will continue in stages depending on the user’s carrier and region.
The company confirmed the release in a note to users, stating: “We have started to roll out the monthly software update for December 2025.” It added that owners will receive a notification once their update is ready and encouraged users to upgrade promptly.
A Broad Patch Covering Multiple Generations
Every Pixel from the Pixel 6 series to the new Pixel 10 range gets this month’s patch, with Google issuing different build numbers for global, EMEA, Japanese and Verizon variants.
The update brings fixes to long-running issues across audio, display, Bluetooth, battery management, the user interface, and telephony.
Pixel 10 users, who have faced a series of frustrations since launch, receive a particularly heavy set of corrections. The update targets freezes, sudden brightness drops, flickering and black-screen glitches that affected several apps and games. Foldable models also get a correction for inner-display flicker.
Across older devices, Google is addressing memory leaks linked to splash screens, fingerprint unlock failures, missing notification sounds, and crashes within system UI elements. Some emergency calling issues affecting the Pixel 6 line have also been resolved.
Android 16 QPR2 Lands with New Features
Alongside the bug fixes, this month’s rollout coincides with the arrival of Android 16 QPR2, the second major quarterly release of 2025. It points to Google’s focus towards more frequent, feature-rich updates rather than relying solely on annual operating-system jumps.
This build adds new tools across personalisation, productivity and security. Users will now see AI-powered notification summaries designed to condense busy group chats into quick snapshots. A new Notification Organiser can silence low-priority alerts automatically, helping reduce the daily flood of pings.
Customisation options have also expanded with more icon shape controls, a wider dark theme that reaches apps without their own dark mode, and enhanced parental controls that let adults manage app access and screen-time limits directly.
On the security aspect, the December bulletin resolves over 100 vulnerabilities across two patch levels, including several tagged “Critical”. Google also lists 28 additional Pixel-specific fixes covering emergency calling stability, fingerprint reliability and display behaviour.
Google Pushes a New Update Strategy
Google is currently focusing more on an aggressive update cycle. In pushing features through QPR builds, Pixel users receive new capacity much faster, placing Google’s hardware at the centre of its software strategy.
It aligns with Apple’s approach of rolling out smart and needed improvements throughout the year instead of waiting for a single annual overhaul.
While the December update addresses many long-standing issues, some reports state that video stutter on the Pixel 10 Pro’s telephoto camera still appears for certain users, despite Google noting that the problem has been fixed.
What Pixel Users Should Expect
Users can expect better device stability, stronger network performance, improved Wi-Fi on the Pixel 8 series, sharper camera reliability and fewer UI interruptions across gestures, notifications and animations. Once the update reaches each device, installation should begin automatically after user approval.
The full list of fixes are available from Google’s bulletin, referenced in its message to users: “Details of this month’s security fixes can be found on the Pixel Security Bulletin.”
