August brought us the RP2350 A4 launch—and quietly riding shotgun was Pico SDK v2.2.0. It’s billed as a minor update, but if you’re working with RP2040 or RP2350 boards, it’s worth a closer look. Let’s unpack what’s new, what’s useful, and what still needs fixing.

🧩 Board File Blues

Each SDK release adds support for new board files—this time, just 14. That’s a bit surprising given how many RP2040/RP2350 boards are hitting the market. The mismatch between board launches and SDK updates creates a frustrating support gap. You either wait for official support or roll your own.

My advice? Don’t patch the SDK manually. Instead, use:

cmake configuration command

set(PICO_BOARD_HEADER_DIRS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/boards)

This lets you maintain a local boards folder within your project. I use this approach for RM2 board enhancements, as discussed in my video blog: RP2040 and RP2350 Boards Get a WiFi Upgrade: Why This Matters.

🔐 Self-Decrypting Binaries for RP2350

Security-conscious devs, take note: SDK 2.2.0 introduces self-decrypting binaries for the RP2350. This simplifies OTA (Over-the-Air) updates by bundling the bootloader directly into the encrypted binary. It’s a neat way to ensure firmware authenticity without juggling multiple components. I’ve added this to my “projects to try” list—watch this space.

📶 Smarter WiFi Firmware Partitioning

If you’ve ever compared firmware sizes between WiFi-enabled and non-WiFi builds, you’ll know the difference is hefty. That’s because the WiFi chip firmware gets baked into every app at compile time. Not ideal for OTA updates, especially over slow links.

Now, RP2350 supports separate WiFi firmware partitioning. This means you can update the WiFi firmware and your app independently—a big win for modularity and bandwidth efficiency.

💡 Pico Status LED Library

Status LEDs used to be simple: a GPIO line, an LED, done. But with the Pico W, things got messy—the LED is routed through the WiFi chip, and third-party boards have added RGBs, WS2812Bs, and more. Cross-platform LED handling became a headache.

Enter the new Pico Status LED library. It offers a consistent interface, configured via the board file, to tame the chaos. Whether you’re blinking a basic LED or animating a rainbow, this library aims to make it seamless.

🧵 Final Thoughts

SDK 2.2.0 may be a “minor” release, but it quietly solves some real pain points—especially for those of us building remixable, OTA-capable, community-first projects. If you’re working with RP2350 boards, it’s worth diving in.

Got your own board tweaks or SDK gripes? Let’s keep the conversation going. Remix responsibly—and keep building.

• Enterprise Architecture