Essential has a pretty good track record when it comes to software updates, often releasing updates for the Essential Phone on the same day that Google pushes updates to its Pixel phones. Today that continued with the latest Android security patches.
The Essential Phone is now receiving an update to build PQ1A.190105.024. This update includes the March 2019 Android security patches as well as Digital Wellbeing support. Essential Phone owners on Reddit report that they've already begun receiving the 93.2MB update.
This update is notable because the Essential Phone is getting access to Digital Wellbeing, which is only available on a handful of non-Pixel phones. With it, users can get an overview of their usage like how often they use apps and how often they check their phones in a single day. Digital Wellbeing also lets you set daily app timers and use a feature called Wind Down to help you switch off at night by switching your screen to grayscale and turning on Do Not Disturb to silence notifications.
If you've got an Essential Phone, be on the lookout for this new update!