With the Galaxy S10 family of devices finally taking its place at the head of the Samsung flagship table, that has come at a cost to those who previously used to occupy the top slots.
The first casualties, it appears, are the 3-year-old former flagships: the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge.
The duo, unveiled in February 2016 and made available for purchase in Kenya the following month, will now be updated on a quarterly basis by their maker, Samsung as per the company’s latest update on the devices it is regularly pushing out security updates to.
Google releases security fixes for any vulnerabilities identified in Android every month. Since devices like Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones don’t run Android as it is availed by Google, the same is made available to Samsung which must then test, package and deploy it to devices as it deems fit.
This process, as you can see, is rather lengthy than for devices that don’t run highly customized Android builds, like Google’s own Pixel smartphones or those in the Android One programme. As such, the said updates often arrive a month late.
Other devices relegated to receiving critical security patches at least once every 3 months include the Galaxy Note FE (remember it from the aftermath of the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco?) and many of the popular Galaxy J series devices, like those that have been available in the local market over the last 3 years.
The Galaxy S8 family of devices remains in good books as it is set to continue being prioritized by receiving security updates every month. As will the Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy Note 9 (side note: my Note 9 received its March update in good time, I was pleasantly surprised).
The full updated list of devices that Samsung is seeding regular security updates for the near future is available on Samsung’s website.
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