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According to reports, the second generation Nexus 7 tablet is finally getting the Android 5.1.1 Lollipop update from Verizon on a day Google made Android 6.0 Marshmallow official. The update is being rolled out OTA, meaning it might take a few days to reach every single user. To manually check for updates, users can go to Settings > System > About Device, and then tap on Software Updates > Check for Updates. The latest update from Verizon also comes with a security patch to deal with the Stagefright vulnerability. Verizon has released an extensive changelog for its latest update, which mentions that the device will now have new features like the ability to create multiple user accounts, unified notification settings and personal unlocking, along with support for XLTE.
According to Verizon, the update will bring along new battery saving features which will help extend the battery life of the device by allowing users to turn certain features off, or run them at reduced capacities when the battery level goes down below a pre-assigned level. As for the task-locking feature which will also come with the update, users will be able to use this feature to turn off notifications temporarily while running a particular app. Another interesting feature that is being brought along by the current update is the introduction of the ‘Tap and Go’ feature, whereby users can take advantage of the NFC chip within the tablet to send files to another NFC-enabled device by just tapping on the screen once.
Coming to the security patch which is being issued by Verizon as part of this update, it is expected to patch-up a security hole found in the multimedia library of Android, called Stagefright. The flaw was originally discovered by Zimperium zLabs security researcher Mr. Joshua Drake, who reported about it to Google back in April. Zimperium only went public with it late last month after giving Google its 90-day window to patch things up at its end. However, there are still question marks over the efficacy of the patches currently being rolled out, as Exodus Intelligence security researcher Jordan Gruskovnjak has claimed that he’s found a “severe problem” with the proposed patch, which means that devices even with the patch applied, might still remain vulnerable to malicious attacks.