Bad news for millions of Galaxy users
Samsung and Google are on a mission to catch iPhone, at least when it comes to the security and privacy of Android’s huge number of users worldwide. Google’s big push comes by way of Android 15 with a raft of new updates, while Samsung is arguably doing more, clamping down on sideloading, defaulting to maximum restrictions and pushing its Knox ecosystem as an alternative to Apple’s equivalent.
But there’s one area where the gap between Samsung and iPhone remains as big as ever—security updates. While Android pushes a monthly cycle as opposed to Apple’s as and when, users must wait for specific updates by model, region and carrier, and not everyone get the monthly update, with many on a quarterly or worse cycle.
This is another area where Google is pushing a fix. With seamless updates, Google explains, “OTA updates can occur while the system is running, without interrupting the user. Users can continue to use their devices during an OTA… After an update, rebooting takes no longer than a regular reboot.”
Not for Samsung users though. While earlier this year it seemed Samsung was finally jumping onboard this easier and simpler update system, and had even addressed the everyone, everywhere, all at once challenge solved by Apple, that hasn’t happened. As Android Authority explains, “Google has offered seamless updates on Android for a while now, drastically speeding up the system update process. Unfortunately, Samsung’s flagship phones don’t support this option.”
As I reported in March, it did look like this was being addressed at long last, initially for owners of A55 devices. But that, it now seems, may have just been a tease. There has been nothing more since. And for owners of the most recent S24 and S23 flagships, the bad news is that it’s “the Galaxy S25 series [that] could finally offer seamless updates,” Android Authority reports, based on a new leak on X.
The issue, as the website says, is that while “these wouldn’t be the first Samsung phones to offer seamless updates, as the Galaxy A55 5G reportedly offered this functionality earlier this year, these would be the first flagship Galaxy phones with this feature.” Which is a serious issue for today’s owners of expensive phones.
“The older method used on the Galaxy S24 line,” says Phone Arena, “is a full-system reboot that requires the device to completely restart which is a process that can take minutes. During that time, the new software is installed on the phone and when it is all done, the device reboots with the new software installed. This method is considered less efficient and more of a disruption to the user.”
Clearly this is not confirmed, but what we do know is that seamless or any form of regular all at once updating remains a critical missing feature for Samsung owners. This is exacerbated by Google flexing its muscles when it coms to its own control over hardware and software with Pixels, something Samsung cannot match while it remains dependent on the broader Android ecosystem.
And that’s also why Samsung users remain in wait and see mode for Android 15, albeit the long-awaited One UI 7 may be just a few days away, at least in beta form. The other current issue for some Samsung users is a critical Qualcomm vulnerability, that may or may not be fixed in this month’s security release.
As I have commented before, Samsung’s phones can match Apple’s in almost all areas and has been brilliantly tightening the security and privacy of its devices, but this update anomaly should be fixed. Until then, Apple has the edge.
I have asked Samsung for confirmation of these latest update leaks.