What are Android security updates, and why do they matter?

If you purchased an Android phone recently, chances are that it prompted you to install a security update or two at some point. You may have noticed that these updates don’t typically add much in the way of new functionality. Instead, they tend to be pretty small in size — around a few hundred megabytes or so. Notably, they’re also independent of the larger version updates (like Android 12) that bring a slew of new features.

Despite how uneventful they might seem, though, security updates are obviously pretty important. As you’d expect, having your personal device exposed to potential data leaks and malicious attacks isn’t ideal.