The latest Android security patch level for the original Galaxy Fold, the one dated November 1st, 2020, started rolling out globally several hours ago, having already reached multiple countries across Europe. Designated as version F900FXXS4CTJ4, the over-the-air release targets international Galaxy Fold variants, i.e. SM-F900F models, hence the start of that software build identifier.
Samsung began deploying the OTA release just yesterday, with Bulgaria being the first confirmed country to receive it. Hungary, Portugal, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Nordic countries followed immediately thereafter. As did the Netherlands, France, Greece, and Spain, in that order, all before midnight CET. Given the extent of this initial release wave, it would appear the rollout is very much global in nature.
Reading between the changelog lines
The release of the November 2020 security update for the Galaxy Fold isn't a particularly consequential affair by itself, especially seeing how there's nothing else on board of this particular firmware package. But it is a great opportunity to see some firsthand evidence of how small of a niche Samsung's first foldable smartphone actually filled.
You see, monthly updates for Samsung's Android smartphones tend to arrive in a much more deliberate, gradual fashion than what is the case here. Take yesterday's arrival of this very same security patch level to the Galaxy Note 10 Lite, for example. That one will probably take weeks to achieve the level of coverage the Galaxy Fold reached in under 24 hours. But that's because the Galaxy Note 10 Lite actually sold in meaningful numbers, a more aggressive OTA release strategy poses a legitimate network congestion risk in some markets.
Meanwhile, Samsung's first foldable smartphone even struggled to clear seven digits after almost a year on the market, according to the company's own disclosures. While this year's Galaxy Z Fold 2 is well-positioned to do much better, both are still in the rounding-error territory for an industry leader the size of Samsung.
Anyway, the full system images containing the November 2020 security update for the Galaxy Fold can already be downloaded from our reliable firmware archives. You know, just in case this absolute top level of OTA release urgency isn't good enough for you and you want to see your foldable companion running the latest security patches immediately.
