We're closing in on the announcement for new hardware that will carry the next version of Android, surely to be labeled 7.1. If you're looking for something to do in the meantime, we've put together some changelogs for the latest security updates, released just yesterday. The changelogs are a compilation of the messages left with each code commit to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP).

So far, five new builds have been posted, all for Android 7.0 Nougat. But the build numbers don't quite match up correctly with many of the firmware images. This could very possibly be a typo where the letters 'B' and 'R' may have been accidentally transposed. For example, the Nexus 6P factory image is listed as NBD90X, but there's also a NRD90X build number in the r7 set, which would explain most of the remaining Nexus devices. For now, it's a safe bet those changelogs match up to the build numbers.

Only the android-7.0.0_r7 build contains much substance – the rest make single changes, or none at all. The list of changes is pretty tightly linked to security patches alone, discussed in the latest security bulletin, though there may be a few other tidbits sprinkled among those changes. Enjoy digging!

Reading the changelogs?

There are a lot of questions and confusion surrounding changelogs, so here are a few reminders and tips that might clear some things up.

To begin with, all changelogs are named with their starting and ending tags. That's because changelogs pick up where previous changelogs left off, but the names and numbers aren't necessarily sequential. For example, 6.0.1_r56 is based on r48, not on r55. Changelogs always build off of another changelog, sometimes even in the same month. Also remember that while most patches are only written once, they may be copied across multiple development branches running in parallel, so a single patch may appear in more than one changelog.

Also remember that these changelogs only list changes uploaded to the Android Open Source Project. They do not include changes made to the closed source proprietary binaries used to build the final firmware for a device. Sometimes a new tag and build number are created for updates where only those binaries have been replaced, which usually results in a virtually empty changelog.

Finally, changelogs for developer previews contain only a short list of changes. This is because Google does not post the full code for a new version of Android until the OS is final. Most of the code disclosed prior to a final OS release is usually for compliance with the GPL or similarly licensed projects, or belonging to projects Google itself chooses to make available in advance.

October security updates:

(Oct 4)

(Oct 11)