Security / Software Update

I understand that Android 10 might be delayed by the Covid19 and the MediaTek, but I am getting concerned when we are still on October 5 2019 security Patch. It is time. Do we know when we are going to get an update ?

We are working on the Android 10 update which will combine security update as well. Current ETA is June-July timeframe.

2 Likes

I really believe that security updates should much more often than every 8-9 months.
My Samsung is on April 2020 security patch now.

I would say that lagging 2-3 months is “reacting”
But 8-9 months is “leaving issues unpatched”.

Why such a long lag, when patches are mostly from Google anyway?

So far our manufacturing partner (ODM) has been maintaining and building Teracube Android images in collaboration with Mediatek. The truth is that developer resources have been affected, and hence the delay.

In the meantime, we are figuring out how we can manage this process in the future. This allows us to have the flexibility and total control to releases and updates. One of the options is to take ownership of the source code, compile our own builds, and get them certified with GMS. This would allow us to release more often and overall have more control as well. However, the challenge is that unlike Qualcomm where their kernel source code is open source, MediaTek’s kernel source code is proprietary, and they do not share codes to anyone other than the manufacturers themselves.

Rest assured that Anthony and I are working hard towards that goal. Unfortunately we don’t have a timeline set as of now because of the complexity involved - will keep all of you posted as we go along.

3 Likes

Wow, that does seem to be a challenge!
I did not realize that there were so many closed-source blobs for our Android phone.

1 Like

Every phone, unfortunately. This was a huge stumbling block for FireFoxOS as well :\

yeah, even the OpenMoko phone had blobs for the main phone chip etc
I liked that phone, but it was stolen in a break in

1 Like

Any news on this topic?
I just received my 2e and it has a security patch level of Nov 2020 (and no new updates).
This is somewhat disappointing when receiving a new phone where the software is already 4 months out of date…

We expect to have our 1st update out in the next 2-3 months. Goal will be to get to a quarterly cadence from there. We are still learning and figuring out how the software update certifications work with Google - so please be patient.

1 Like