Samsung recently revealed that it would give its phones an impressive four years of security updates. Paired with its elevated position on our regular Android update tracker, the company is quickly becoming the king of Android update. With the news, we’re curious to see how up-to-date your phone can be. If you’re willing to go through the settings app for a moment, let’s compare: What level of Android security patch is your phone running on?
In case you missed the news, Samsung revealed that it would be upgrading its phones in four years’ time – a change that applies not only to upcoming devices, but even to phones as old as the Galaxy S10 series. And that was just six months after the company pledged to guarantee three years of operating system updates. It is possible that other manufacturers will fulfill this commitment for new phones, as Google and Qualcomm announced that devices with Snapdragon 888 should be able to obtain four years of security patches, but Samsung’s commitment to older devices is rapidly growing. making you the king of Android updates. Just look at the age of some phones in the current update list.
We do our best to keep up with the security patch updates that major smartphones get, and that shows an interesting picture. Most people are only interested in major updates to Android versions that launch new features or redesigns, but it is the monthly patches that really keep your phone safe. You can be excited about extra image-in-picture features or personalization options, but basic things like digital banking, communications and even just the safe use of social media depend on the security of your smartphone, and not all manufacturers care about this. subject so much.
Security patch levels on Pixel 5 with Android 12 (left) and Galaxy Z Flip (right).
So, what level of security patch is your primary phone running? It is always expressed as a date, such as February 1, 2021, and should be listed somewhere in the Settings – usually in an “over the phone” section somewhere near the bottom, but you can also search for “patch Android “,” security update “, or something similar and locate it. The exact day of the patch level may vary slightly (there are usually two levels for each newsletter), but it is the month and year that we are interested in.
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