If there’s one thing Android users are better at than everyone else, it’s making a fuss about things that aren’t all that mysterious or misleading. Thanks to competition between brands on the internet and lopsided loyalty to companies you don’t even know exist, even the smallest thing can quickly turn into a scandal.
The latest example of this is that the Pixel 9 (and all previous Pixel phones) do not support Stingray protection in Android 15. No, it’s not a fishy stingray swimming around. A small device designed to capture SMS messages and phone calls.
The crux of the problem is that these settings appeared in the beta version of Android 15 on the Pixel, even though we did nothing because the phone’s hardware or configuration didn’t support it. When Android 15 officially arrived, those were gone. That’s no surprise since it’s not supported.
that’s it. Nothing more. Many phones don’t support these features, but the Pixel comes from Google, which has developed a way to counter this, leading some to think there’s some kind of conspiracy afoot. Masu. I don’t work at Google, but I can tell you that’s not the case. If the feature is supported, the settings will be displayed.
This is worth noting because if you’re interested in the protections offered here, you need to know which phones actually support them. If you, like everyone else, weren’t planning on using them anyway, feel free to say “hmm” and move on without feeling guilty for not participating in this outrage. Please proceed to This is why beta builds exist. This is to catch mistakes, such as publishing invalid configurations, before the product goes to market. If the lack of this feature affects your purchasing decision, don’t buy a Pixel phone.
However, there is something to think about here. What does mobile phone security mean? And does complaining actually make a difference?
For some, becoming an active target of phone hacking is a legitimate concern. The rich, famous, and world leaders all have to worry about someone breaking into their phones and finding out information they don’t want to share. Smart people with these needs hire professionals to manage their communication devices and use hardened or strictly locked-down devices that are far more secure than a cell phone bought on Amazon. Others want to make sure their phones have the latest patches and features like stingray protection against remote attacks.
Perhaps you don’t fit into any of these groups and are just like me. I’m just a normal person who doesn’t want anyone to see what they don’t want to share. Security is still important, but not in the same way or why. We need protection from ourselves.
For us, the most important part of security-focused patches and updates is[OK]What you want to do is make sure that random bits of code don’t do things that shouldn’t be allowed because you clicked on . Maybe you followed a link you shouldn’t have and downloaded something. Perhaps you installed an app that is trying to do something it shouldn’t. Maybe someone installed something when we weren’t looking. This happens much more often than when foreign spies actively target our devices or SMS messages, but the same results can occur.
You’re less upset that the company that manufactured your phone is keeping these security updates from you than you are when that phone doesn’t support something it didn’t advertise as supporting. is also much more productive. Neither may make a difference, as the companies involved care little about anything other than profit, but we may continue to complain. Even Motorola sells phones with over 6 years of software support.
Perhaps being furious may be the right decision. That’s for you to decide, and it’s for me to decide where to focus my frustrations. Complaining about one thing long enough can bring about change.
Just complain about the right things. Pixel phones (and all smartphones) are required to support security issues that Google has found important enough to make part of Android itself. Settings that were in beta software but not in release builds are a different story.
