Perhaps the main – if not the only – reason why Google Pixel smartphones are popular is direct access to updates. Due to the fact that Google itself is engaged in the development of updates, its branded devices receive all new versions of the OS and patches with bug fixes earlier than everyone else. Well, at least that's how it used to be. Over time, however, the situation began to improve and companies like Essential and OnePlus proved that it is possible to release updates not only at the same time as Google, but even earlier. Now Samsung has joined their number and has also managed to arrange timely and even premature release of updates. How? Let's tell you now.
If security updates are delayed, it's your manufacturer's fault
Oddly enough, this is the third month in a row that Samsung smartphones are getting monthly security updates even faster than the Google Pixel. This became possible due to a serious shift in the timing of the launch of updates. If the search giant tries to release patches for its devices in the first week of every month, then Samsung – and this is no joke – releases fresh updates for the next month at the end of the previous one. So, the Koreans released the November security patch even before the end of October, the December security patch in November, and the January security patch in December.
Why security updates are needed
Security updates are completely pointless, but for many they are important
At first glance, this looks like a farce or an unnecessary attempt by Samsung to prove to the world that it is better than Google. But in reality, everything is much deeper. After all, if Samsung manages to release updates before the search giant, it means that it receives their sources so early that it manages to first adapt them for the One UI firmware – and this, obviously, can take from several days to several weeks – and they can do that. and all the rest. Another thing is that for some reason they don't want to.
Is there a practical benefit to early security updates? Personally, it seems to me that no. Still, since Google is so aware of all vulnerabilities in advance that it allows itself to delay fixing them for several weeks, it means that they do not pose a particular danger to users and their devices. Otherwise, how else to explain that Google issues fresh updates in a metered fashion, and does not fix all the 'new' vulnerabilities at once, despite the fact that it obviously knows about them almost at the time of the release of the previous patch?
Is it worth installing security updates
But my personal speculation here, of course, does not play any role, because most updates are really important, and they want to receive them on an ongoing basis. Therefore, in order to fulfill the will of users, Google should have issued some kind of rule that would oblige manufacturers to adapt and release fresh versions of the operating system within a predetermined time frame. After all, if a smartphone receives the November security update in January, when Google is already working on the March one, it is a complete farce. Is not it?
It is significant that security updates may come out ahead of time not only for flagship smartphones, but also for outspoken state employees. In any case, in the last three months, monthly updates have been received in advance by both the Galaxy Note 10 and S10, as well as the Galaxy A10, A30, A50 and probably some other models. This means that for manufacturers there is absolutely no difference for which smartphone to adapt the patch in the first place. They simply separate the owners of expensive devices from cheap ones in this way, indicating to them exactly what it was worth overpaying for.