From now on, Samsung will update the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge with a new security patch every three months. Both devices were receiving monthly security updates up to this point, with the March 2019 security patch out for the S7 and S7 edge in some countries, and Samsung has now shifted them to the quarterly schedule.
Galaxy flagships to now get regular security updates for longer?
This is a positive development as far as long-term support for flagship devices is concerned. Samsung probably isn’t going to start pushing three major Android OS updates to flagships, although that would be great to see now that even budget Galaxies get two OS upgrades. However, the company is making an official commitment to push security updates regularly to the S7 and S7 edge even after their third year on the market. Before this, after the third year, flagship devices only received updates when strictly necessary.
In fact, Samsung has already extended this courtesy to a mid-range device: The Galaxy A5 (2016) was also moved to the quarterly schedule earlier this year after completing three years on the market. It remains to be seen how long any of these devices will remain in the quarterly schedule, although we’re guessing Samsung will keep it ongoing for at least the entirety of the fourth year.
