Samsung and Google explain why they chose to offer 7 years of Android updates on S24, Pixels

Samsung has announced that it will start offering 7 years of Android updates on its phones in January 2024. It all started with the Galaxy S24 series and the move came after Google did something similar with the Pixels. Today both companies explain what led them to this decision. While OnePlus stubbornly refuses.

Samsung

Let’s take it one at a time. GSMArena asked Samsung what led to this decision. The company’s vice president, Nichols Porter, said that the company’s analysis found that expanding software support adds extra value to the phones. Also an analysis by the company revealed that people keep their phones for a longer period these days.

The South Korean firm also found that despite the fact that some people don’t care about extended support, they will still benefit from the improved security and increased fluidity of the phones over time. Their experience”it will get better as the years go by“. Samsung has promised updates and Android for 7 years for the Galaxy S24 series and most likely the same for the upcoming Galaxy S and Z. For midrange phones it offers 5 years of updates.

Google

As for Google, Sean Chauvice president of Google Devices & Services Software emphasized in a podcast the successful collaboration required to provide 7 years of updates. It’s about collaborating with business partners, chip suppliers, the Android team and even operators. Using our own processor, the one developed in house, Tensor also helps a lot.

The move to year-round beta programs and quarterly software releases are again pluses. And Google now gets a lot of feedback on updates before they hit the masses. This means that I can move functions reserved for large updates to somewhat smaller updates.

Google also analyzed how long people use phones, including the second-hand market and gifts. They discovered a surprisingly intense activity even for older models. Obviously the updates will continue, but not with all the functions bundled on older models.