Newsletter 
America’s largest carrier, Verizon Wireless, started rolling out the January Security Update for four of Samsung’s 2015 flagship devices. The update is now rolling out for the Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+, and the Galaxy Note 5. Verizon’s release notes reveal that only changes included in the update are Google’s latest critical security fixes. This security patch was first released by Google before Samsung reworked it for their fleet of devices. Once the Korean manufacturer modified the software, the changes were also tested and approved by Verizon. For a full software release, this process can take months, but things are moving much more quickly when it comes to Android Security Updates. While owners of the aforementioned devices are still waiting for Android Nougat, it’s important that security patches like this one are released on a regular basis. These critical security patches resolve issues or exploits present in the Android platform that could potentially be used to take control of someone’s device and steal user information.
Owners of the Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, and the Galaxy S6 Edge+ should soon receive the latest security patch automatically. The handset should be fully charged before the software update process starts and it won’t be entirely functional during the procedure, Verizon’s release notes state. The latest software versions bear the label N920VVRS3BQA1 for the Galaxy Note 5, G928VVRS3BQA1 for the Galaxy S6 Edge+, G920VVRS4CQA3 for the Galaxy S6 and G925VVRS4CQA3 for the Galaxy S6 Edge. It remains to be seen how quickly will any of these devices receive their Nougat updates, though recent developments suggest that their updates will start rolling out in the coming months.
Verizon Wireless previously had a reputation for taking too long to release software updates, so with that in mind, this latest set of patches actually rolled out in a relatively timely manner. The largest mobile service provider in the country utilizes extensive testing procedures to ensure that the end-user experience is as good as it can possibly be. Google’s 2015 update policy recommendations requiring regular monthly security patches for Android devices prompted some phone manufacturers to change how frequently they update their devices and forced carriers to follow suit.