Galaxy S10 owners have had one question on their mind these last few days: When is Samsung going to release the July security update for our device? The company has pushed the latest security update to all four of its 2017 and 2018 flagships and even some older ones like the Galaxy S7, but the Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10, and Galaxy S10+ are still on the June security patch. Is Samsung taking too long to bring the latest security patch to its newest flagships? Yes, it is, but it's not exactly late, in a manner of speaking.
Samsung has pushed four Galaxy S10 security updates since the three devices went on sale, in addition to a couple of bug-fixing updates the company had to release when the update with the May security patch and camera Night mode turned out to have a few issues. And while the April security update came out on the 18th day of the month, the other three updates were released after the 20th day of their respective months. The March security update started rolling out on March 29, and the May and June updates were released on May 23 and June 23 respectively.
Samsung's taken its time with almost every Galaxy S10 update
If we go by the last two security updates, Samsung isn't really late with the July security update. It's July 22 today (when this article has gone live), and if Samsung releases the update tomorrow, it will ‘technically' be right on time. In fact, at least one Galaxy S10+ user in Germany was able to download the July security update on his device in late June and then received another update with the July patch a week later. The second update had build number G975FXXU2ASG1 and has been confirmed to be legit, so Samsung has certainly been working on it for a few weeks.
If the company doesn't push out the update tomorrow, then we'd begin to worry. However, there might be a good reason for Samsung to take longer with the July update compared to the previous Galaxy S10 updates: Testing things thoroughly to prevent any bugs from slipping through.
A longer time in the oven may be a good thing
While some of the issues with the May update were quite serious, the June update was positively devastating for Galaxy S10 owners on Verizon's network in the US. They found themselves locked out of their phone after installing the June security update, with no way to unlock their device and the only solution being a factory reset. The same problem didn't affect the unlocked units in other countries, but we wouldn't be surprised if Samsung has decided to keep the July update in the oven until it's absolutely sure it won't wreak havoc for anyone.
We're just hoping the additional time Samsung is taking for every update isn't because it now has three models of its Galaxy S flagship. It shouldn't really be a factor considering all three Galaxy S10 models should be similar on the software front – the three models do differ in terms of the number of cameras they have, but are otherwise pretty much at par as far as software features are concerned. The Galaxy S10e, for example, also gives you the Edge screen features despite having a flat AMOLED display.
Of course, one can also hope Samsung will have some new features or functionality to offer as recompense for making us wait so long for the next Galaxy S10 software update. From a dedicated Night mode and a QR code scanner for the camera to vibration feedback for navigation gestures, recent updates have packed more than just the latest security fixes, and that trend will hopefully continue for the next few months.
SamsungGalaxy S10e
SamsungGalaxy S10
