The most recently released Samsung “Galaxy” devices have now been officially added to its update schedule, reports indicate. That’s based on a recent scheduling change released by Samsung.
The biggest news here is, of course, changes in which devices will get updates and when. Namely, the company is moving some devices to monthly updates and others to other schedules. Some of the changes aren’t necessarily surprising given the South Korean tech giant’s recent promise to deliver more frequent updates. Regardless, the other changes may not be entirely expected.
Of course, this is only for security updates. But those do sometimes include wider firmware changes. So this could have broader implications as well.
What’s new with the Samsung Galaxy Update schedule?
Samsung has promised a much longer update cycle for devices, now set at 3 years. Or at least for some of its devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 series. Other devices such as the Samsung Galaxy A family are expected to move to a longer cycle too. So it shouldn’t come as a shock that both the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra are included in the updated list for monthly updates. And that includes the 5G variants of both.
Other new devices like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Z Fold 2 5G are included in the newest addition to monthly updates as well.
Meanwhile, the company is also adding devices to a quarterly update cycle. That includes tablets such as the new Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and Tab S7+. But it also includes the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 and at least one phone — the Galaxy M51.
What’s new with older handsets in Samsung’s update cycle?
Other, previously-released handsets are moving cycles as well. For instance, the company is shifting the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active away from monthly updates. That will now receive new software and security on a quarterly cycle. And still, other devices are moving away from the quarterly schedule to Samsung’s “Other Regular” cycle.
In that latter list, the Samsung Galaxy J2 Core, Tab A 10.5 (2018), and Tab S4 will no longer see quarterly updates. Those will be updated regularly, in keeping with Google policy. But not as regularly as other gadgets.