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Essential Phone adds support for Google’s Digital Wellbeing w/ March security patch, available now

Despite the fact that the device is no longer being made, Essential is keeping its promise when it comes to software updates. This afternoon, the company is just a couple of hours behind Google with its latest security patch, as well as delivering support for Digital Wellbeing on the Essential Phone.

Announced on Twitter and rolling out now, the Essential Phone’s latest update is another timely security patch update. Building on top of Android Pie, the update adds March’s security patch which just launched this morning for Google Pixel devices. Google doesn’t highlight any specific security fixes with this patch.

Much more notably, however, is the arrival of Google’s Digital Wellbeing suite on the Essential Phone. Just like on Google’s Pixel devices, this collection of tools is added to the native Settings menu of the device. Within, there’s a dashboard for how you spend time on your device, as well as extra options. App Timers, for example, lets you set a daily cap on the amount of time you use a specific app. Wind Down, on the other hand, turns the display to grayscale at night.

Build PQ1A.190105.024 is rolling out now as an OTA update to all Essential Phone owners. To check for the update manually, head to Settings > System > Advanced > System Update.

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