My goodness, there’s lots to be stated about Samsung’s newly introduced Galaxy S24 household of flagship Android units.Aaaaand, spoiler alert: We will not be saying most of these issues right here, on this column, in the present day.Now, do not get me fallacious: Samsung’s newest and biggest Galaxy fashions have tons of excellent stuff going for ’em. From the eye-catching {hardware} to the specs to finish all specs, Samsung hardly ever holds again with its top-of-the-line Android choices. And this 12 months’s units seem like no exception.But greater than ever proper now, {hardware} is taking a again seat to the software program inside our units. To that finish, Samsung’s introducing mountains of recent (if principally acquainted) AI goodies and elevating the stakes on the all-around expertise it is serving as much as followers of its closely opinionated Android method.Again, although: That’s not what I need to concentrate on in the present day. The web’s overflowing with glorious articles that’ll inform you all there’s to learn about each final ounce of the Galaxy S24 image.What I need to concentrate on as a substitute is the bigger-picture significance of what these new Galaxy devices symbolize — not just for individuals who purchase Samsung-made Android merchandise however for the larger Android ecosystem and fairly presumably even the broader cellular business past that. And that every one comes down to 1 two-syllabled quantity.[Get next-level knowledge in your inbox with my Android Intelligence newsletter. Tips, tools, and tons of tasty treats await!] Samsung’s Galaxy S24 surpriseI will not hold you ready: The quantity that deserves many of the consideration within the tech universe this week is none aside from…seven.Seven — as in seven years of software program help. That’s what Samsung is promising for anybody who buys its Galaxy S24 units, and good golly, is {that a} massively significant change from the previous.For perspective: Way again when, the usual anticipated window for an Android machine to obtain working system updates was a mere 18 months. Eighteen months! A 12 months and a half. That’s nothing, and it appears nearly laughable by in the present day’s expectations.But in 2014, that was the norm. It wasn’t till a sure riled-up Android author began chanting endlessly in regards to the absurdity of that customary that one Android device-maker rose to the problem and stated “all right” — it’d begin supporting its telephones for a full two years after their launch. That firm wasn’t Google, both. It was HTC — a one-time pillar of the Android {hardware} ecosystem that is principally light into obscurity in the present day. Back then, although, HTC was one of many greatest forces throughout the Android platform. And you realize what occurred as soon as it introduced it’d begin supporting its units for that then-unheard-of two-year interval? Yes, indeedly: Other phone-makers adopted go well with.And certain sufficient, quickly after, two years turned the de facto customary for any new Android gizmo to obtain ongoing rollouts of recent Android variations. Funny how that occurs, is not it? Competition is a strong factor, and as soon as one participant establishes a brand new customary for the way it treats its clients, different gamers are compelled to maintain up or get left behind.The identical actual situation performed out once more two years later when some Android-obsessed loudmouth referred to as for Google — which was the unofficial Android customary bearer with its self-made Pixel merchandise by that time — to step up the Android improve customary as soon as once more and present the ecosystem {that a} high-end flagship product deserved greater than the bare-minimum, two-year replace promise.Amazingly, Google listened — and it quickly began providing a full three years of working system updates for all of its Pixel units. A well-known development rapidly adopted, with different device-makers doing the identical. Then Samsung took its flip to step into the highlight and step up its promise to 4 years, a minimum of for its top-tier flagship units. And some rambling tech author stated, “Hey, ya know, Google? You really oughta take note and take this even further.” We all know what occurred from there. With its Pixel 8 telephones this previous 12 months, Google blew us all out of the water by pledging a whopping seven years of working system and safety patch help for these merchandise. It was a complete game-changer — the “most significant change we’ve seen in Android this decade” and one thing that would “have a major effect on your phone-buying future — whether you use a Google Pixel device or not,” as some obnoxiously self-quoting scribe identified:
Sure, the rapid influence of the Pixel 8 providing seven full years of help is that anybody shopping for the Pixel 8 reaps the good thing about that change. But extra broadly, what’s prone to occur is that different device-makers will ultimately be moved to match that very same promise with a view to stay aggressive and keep away from being seen as falling behind in what they provide.
We’ve seen it occur earlier than. … If that very same cycle continues — and historical past suggests it’s going to — the subsequent step shall be Samsung and different producers scrambling to catch as much as Google’s new assure. It’s a ripple impact that advantages us all, it doesn’t matter what taste of cellphone we want.
And right here we’re, a mere matter of months later.The significance of a Galaxy-sized assureGoogle stepping up the software program replace customary for Android is one factor. But let’s be sincere: While Google could the gate-keeper, Samsung remains to be the undisputed king of the Android ecosystem. It’s liable for the lion’s share of Android cellphone gross sales, notably within the US, and its affect over the remainder of the cellular market is outsized to match.So whereas Google’s transfer could have began a transformative change, Samsung’s seconding of that movement is probably going what’ll flip it into an unavoidable expectation — and, ultimately, a brand new customary each phone-maker shall be pressured to comply with.That consists of even Apple, who — despite its fondness for often tooting its personal magical horn — does not really make any specific ensures about its software program help interval. (The firm tends to supplies iOS updates for round six years, in response to latest analyses — and with numerous disadvantageous asterisks our iLords would reasonably not acknowledge.)So simply as we stated when Google made this transfer final October, this alteration is massively consequential — not just for the advantages it’s going to convey to those that purchase Samsung’s Galaxy S24 telephones in an instantaneous sense but additionally for what it may imply for the remainder of the cellular ecosystem within the months and years forward.By extending a cellphone’s lifespan to seven years, a cellphone not solely turns into viable and advisable to make use of for longer; it additionally turns into extra inexpensiveAnd lest you assume software program updates are a lot ado about nothing, keep in mind: Even with standalone safety patches within the equation, working system updates present terribly vital under-the-hood enhancements associated to the essential areas of privateness, safety, and efficiency. So they completely do matter, on many ranges past simply the fundamental surface-level stuff. They introduce each expansions and restrictions to APIs, that are what allow third-party apps to work together together with your cellphone and private information and carry out a wide range of superior features. They make our telephones sooner, safer, and extra environment friendly to make use of.As I’ve stated earlier than, Android OS updates are so essential that I’d by no means counsel anybody hold utilizing a cellphone that is not actively receiving ’em in a fairly well timed method.And it does not cease there, both: By extending a cellphone’s lifespan to seven years, a cellphone not solely turns into viable and advisable to make use of for longer; it additionally turns into extra inexpensive. Think about it: If you are paying 800 bucks for a shiny new Galaxy S24 in 2024 and retaining the cellphone for less than two years, you are successfully paying 400 bucks per 12 months that you just’re utilizing the factor. At 4 years, that per-year worth goes all the way down to $200. At seven, it shrinks all the way down to a measly $114 for every circle across the solar that you just’re actively pawing the factor.And even for those who do not plan to hold onto the machine for therefore lengthy your self, its resale worth will enhance accordingly — because the cellphone is assured to stay present and proceed receiving not solely essential foundational enhancements but additionally all these good new options and interface enhancements for such an extended span.Now, as my annual Android Upgrade Report Cards remind us, Samsung nonetheless has its work reduce out for it with regards to making these updates constantly well timed and dependable. That’s very true with its older units, which are inclined to get handled like second-class residents in Samsung’s rollout schedule. I’m experiencing that firsthand as we converse with my poor Galaxy S21, which remains to be ready to obtain its Android 14 replace, now 107 days since that software program’s launch. That form of prolonged and indefinite ready is usually the case even with a one-year-old, previous-gen Samsung flagship, too, so I hate to assume what sort of delays people with five-, six-, or seven-year-old Samsung telephones may face sooner or later.Google, in distinction, sometimes sends out software program to all of its present Pixel units on the identical time — together with not solely older fashions but additionally the lower-priced, non-flagship-level “a”-range telephones. It’d be good to see Samsung begin to take an identical method and deal with all of its merchandise as equal priorities.But make no mistake about it: Caveats and all, the shift to seven years of full software program help for the corporate’s top-tier Android units is a large leap ahead and an admirable new starting. And odds are, we’ll be seeing the ripple results of that transfer unfold throughout your complete Android pond — and fairly presumably past — for a superb lengthy whereas but.Into Android? Check out my Android Intelligence publication for a heaping serving to of suggestions, instruments, and plain-English perspective on the information that issues.
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