It took years, but Samsung has finally decided to integrate a very important update function that has been available on the Google Pixel for years. We are talking about “seamless updates”, which bring significantly more security and convenience.
What is behind seamless updates, also known as A/B updates? Updates are installed in a virtual partition of memory while the device is running and can be used normally by the owner. A quick restart is enough, then the update is finally applied.
The advantage is that the smartphone can be used while installing updates. The restart takes a bit longer than a normal restart. There is security because updated partitions are only applied if there are no errors. If there is a problem, the system can only restart with the original software version.
Samsung set From Galaxy S25 series to seamless updates. The feature was already available on the Galaxy A55 last year, but not on other models. Why this ambiguous role was chosen remains unanswered. A/B updates are already supported in Android 7.1, but on Samsung flagships they are only used from Android 15 onwards.
Incidentally, the new system cannot be used on older models with just an update, so the Galaxy S24, S23 and Co. Older updates will remain with the system.
Google has been using A/B updates for years and they work well. You just have to get used to the fact that background update installation takes a lot of time. But it doesn’t matter because everything happens in the background. Virtual A/B updates with compression no longer require additional memory like previous versions.