Samsung finally adopts Android seamless updates starting with Galaxy A55

Nearly eight years after the feature was announced, Samsung has finally adopted seamless updates, a feature announced by Google in 2016 with Android Nougat. This feature makes the update process seem a lot faster and doesn’t require users to stare blankly at the update screen for several minutes while phone updates take place. Unfortunately, the feature isn’t available on all Samsung devices, but as far as we know, it’s limited to the newly launched Galaxy A55 5G smartphone.

In addition to having a slightly different design than other Samsung smartphones and using an Exynos processor, the Samsung Galaxy A55 5G is also the first Samsung smartphone to offer seamless updates.First to report mobile indiansThe report claims that the feature will be visible after the March 2024 security patch is installed on Galaxy A55 5G devices. Its software update shows two installation phases, the first is “download and install” and the second is “verification phase”. After posting this information, just restart your phone to complete the update process. Gadgets 360 was able to independently confirm this.

What is seamless update?

Nearly eight years have passed since Google introduced and adopted the feature. Compared with regular updates or A system updates, seamless updates or A/B system updates have more advantages than disadvantages, but overall they focus more on convenience.

Seamless updates basically allow the user to use his/her device while software updates are installed in the background. This reduces the downtime that users typically face when updating phones without the feature, meaning calls, messages and other apps will be unavailable during the standard update process as the phone typically displays an update screen with a progress bar. While this isn’t an issue for minor security patches, larger software updates do take a while. Seamless updates, also known as A/B system updates, are not necessarily about speed, but more about convenience. The update process is usually slower (because it happens in the background) and only needs to be restarted when the user has time to rest.

How does seamless updating work?

This all happens thanks to A/B partitioning, which means more space is needed for seamless updates. However, OTA updates can also be streamed (as of Android 8.0) to the B partition, reducing the need to have a copy of the update before installing it and only requiring space for metadata (just 100 kiB or 0.1 megabytes).

During the update process, new software updates are downloaded and installed on Partition B, while Partition A is busy running the software currently available to the user. Once the installation process checks and completes on Partition B, the system simply reboots and then switches to Partition B, leaving Partition A inactive and open for another update.

The beauty of the A/B process is that if at any time the newly downloaded update fails, the system can reboot back to Partition A (the older/current update) and the phone will reboot to the older software and life will Proceed as usual. Users will not end up with a damaged phone. If a regular A-only system update installation fails, users also risk losing all their personal data (if it is not backed up elsewhere).

Samsung is indeed one of the last major smartphone manufacturers to move to seamless updates. Currently, it is supported by many brands including Google Pixel, Motorola, Nokia (now HMD), OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, Sony, and Xiaomi.