Didja see? Samsung’s pledging a full 4 years of assist for safety updates on its Galaxy-branded Android telephones. Properly, shiver me timbers: That positive is somethin’!
Samsung slapped the news down onto these right here internerfs of ours Monday morning, and the glowing headlines predictably adopted — with some tales going so far as to proclaim Samsung as the brand new undisputed “king of Android upgrades” or to declare that the corporate was now “beating Google at its personal recreation.”
Yeaaaaaaaah. That, my pals, is what we name an efficient press launch rollout.
Do not get me fallacious: Samsung’s newly said dedication is good news, definitely, and it is hopefully a transfer that’ll solely spur extra firms within the Android universe to comply with swimsuit (yay!). However there’s additionally extra to it than you see on the floor (aww!) — and the state of affairs is not practically as black and white as some interpretations would depart you to consider (ohh…). So let’s take a minute to discover the nuances of Samsung’s shift and wrap our moist person-brains round what’s really occurring right here, we could?
First, for context: For some time now, most Android device-makers have — no less than in principle — agreed to supply a minimal of two years of working system updates and safety patches for his or her top-tier, flagship-level telephones. Final yr, Google bumped that as much as a three-year assure for its personal Pixel telephones (insert suggestive eyebrow increase right here), and Samsung quickly supplied an analogous promise for a few of its Galaxy gadgets (albeit with out the identical assurance of timeliness hooked up).
So now, what Samsung is doing is taking {that a} step additional by saying it will present the Android safety patches for an further yr past that three-year interval — which, once more, is incredible. Whereas full-fledged working system upgrades completely do play a big position in areas like efficiency, privateness, and safety, the smaller safety patches alone are nonetheless a lot better than nothing (clearly, proper?!). And understanding you will obtain these for 4 years as an alternative of three — or typically even much less — is a useful little bit of assurance for anybody who hangs onto a cellphone even as soon as it is reached, erm, aged golden-ager standing.
However — effectively, we have these large buts to debate. Lets?
The primary large however with Samsung’s improve announcement
Okay, first: The query of when and how typically a Samsung Android system will obtain these safety updates as a part of this newly formalized plan is vexingly ambiguous. Some Samsung telephones, y’see, are set to obtain safety updates month-to-month — on the identical cadence these patches are launched by Google and supposed to be delivered. Others are down for under quarterly safety patch rollouts. And others but are one class decrease, underneath a decidedly imprecise “common updates” designation.
Samsung does not elaborate on what, precisely, “common updates” entail — nevertheless it appears secure to say it is one thing much less frequent than quarterly, since it is a separate class that is one notch down within the checklist. A “common replace” that is a step under quarterly may arrive solely twice a yr — or perhaps even simply as soon as. It is as much as interpretation, tellingly, however assuming it is a price that is meaningfully lower than 4 occasions a yr looks like an inexpensive conclusion to make, being that Samsung went out of the best way to create that additional class for it.
Now, that is nonetheless higher than nothing — proper? Absotively! That is very true in that fourth yr, when most Android telephones can be getting exactly bupkis. However, effectively, Samsung is not solely placing gadgets which are in their fourth yr into that class.
For example: Based on the corporate’s present device status breakdown, the top-of-the-line Galaxy Tab S4 — which launched in August of 2018 and price a cool $649 to start out (or $800, should you obtained its most cost-effective out there choice with the prompt keyboard attachment) — is already all the way down to “common” safety replace standing, regardless of being lower than three years previous. The identical is true for a number of midrange cellphone fashions from 2018.
The enterprise-aimed Galaxy A8, in the meantime, is already within the quarterly replace class in its third yr of life. The identical is true for the top-tier Galaxy Tab S7 and S7+, which simply got here out this previous September. Most of Samsung’s midrange telephones are additionally listed for quarterly safety updates at greatest, irrespective of after they have been launched.
And if you’re evaluating that to Google’s personal Pixel replace dedication, the comparability is not fairly as black and white as some of us round these interwebs have been making it out to be. Google presently sends safety updates to all of its Pixel telephones, together with the $350 “a” fashions, on a month-to-month foundation — because the updates are launched — for 3 years. And it sends full working system updates to all of these gadgets roughly immediately, too, for that very same three-year interval.
Samsung, as we simply established, sends safety patches each single month for some of its telephones however then offers these updates solely quarterly or “repeatedly” for others, with no specific assure of when a cellphone would possibly transfer from one state to the subsequent — so whereas it does now proceed these updates for 4 years as an alternative of three, in some circumstances, you will find yourself with a lot much less frequent updates for a good half or even perhaps all of that point. And regardless of the corporate’s relative enhancements over these previous couple years, its reliability with precise working system upgrades continues to be something however optimum and considerably behind Google’s normal. So that you win some, you lose some, in different phrases; any benefit supplied by the brand new fourth-year addition is offset by these hefty and underemphasized asterisks.
And all of that, m’expensive, is however solely our first large however.
The second large however with Samsung’s improve announcement
Put together your self: This second large however is a juicy one, and it is largely being forgotten amidst this week’s dialogue. So right here it’s: Two months in the past, Google and Qualcomm announced that the newest sequence of Qualcomm chips would assist — await it — 4 years of safety updates for Android telephones. Yup. So what Samsung is doing is not really breaking new floor however reasonably following that earlier announcement with its personal embrace of the identical idea.
Now, let’s not decrease the constructive right here: Any enchancment is an enchancment price celebrating, particularly with regards to the oft-discouraging space of Android upgrades. However Samsung utilizing this information to place itself as an industry-leading innovator is perhaps only a teensy bit disingenuous. As is commonly the case right here in these mossy mobile-tech waters of ours, a bit of context goes a great distance in taking us past the press launch headlines and letting us determine what’s really happening.
Zooming out extra broadly, it will be fascinating to see if and the way Google evolves its personal software program assist commitments when its subsequent technology of latest Pixel telephones lands later this yr. The joint announcement with Qualcomm suggests Google will on the very least honor that four-year interval for safety updates, like Samsung — solely with the possible twist that all Pixel telephones would obtain the updates each single month, with none quarterly or “common” downgrades in designation or any murkiness surrounding which tier any given system will fall into and for the way lengthy.
Past that, if Google’s first do-it-yourself processors make their approach into Pixel telephones this fall, as anticipated, it is totally potential even longer assist life may develop into extra possible from Google’s perspective — one thing I have been hoping to see for some time and that might ultimately encourage even broader progress all through the whole Android ecosystem.
The realm of Android upgrades has been overdue for enchancment for a lot too lengthy now, and optimistically, what we’re seeing now’s simply the beginning — even when this week’s information in and of itself may not be fairly as earth-shattering because it appears on the floor.
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