Samsung has significantly improved its software update game in recent years. We've rightly praised the company for getting its act together in this crucial matter, because, long-time users will remember a time when Samsung's update policy left a lot to be desired. It's much better now, the company is super quick to roll out new updates and its enhanced software support is in a league of its own in the Android segment.
That's why it's been a bit surprising for me to see that we've not received the first software update for the Galaxy S24 yet. It's already been a couple of weeks since the new flagship series was released and yet there's still no update. This is unusual because we typically see a software update already waiting for Samsung's high-end devices when the pre-order period ends and the very first customers start to get their devices out of the box.
The first update is important for maintaining the elevated user experience that customers have come to expect from Samsung's high-end devices. It ensures that any software gremlins that may exist in the new devices when they were shipped from the factory are addressed. It's not uncommon to see glitches and bugs on brand new devices so the first update goes a long way in ensuring that customers don't form a negative view of the device when they haven't even had it for quite some time.
There was no first Galaxy S24 update waiting for any of the three models in this new series when they were released after the pre-order period ended. It's been almost two weeks since the Galaxy S24 lineup was released across the globe and yet there's no update, even as there have been reports about some software gremlins, but it doesn't look like any update is on the horizon.
This seems like an unnecessary regression, one that Samsung should have made it a point to avoid, considering its prior history of not meeting customers' expectations of timely updates. It's not the vibe some of your most expensive phones of the year should be giving and it doesn't quite inspire confidence. It actually makes me lose hope, that perhaps we may slip back to the old days, where Samsung's update game wasn't as on point as it has been in recent memory.
We have been seeing Samsung expedite the One UI 6.1 update for other devices. Many eligible smartphones and tablets in the Galaxy family have received the latest One UI release over the past few weeks. The folks on Samsung's software update team are certainly burning the midnight oil but if this agility comes at the expense of the first Galaxy S24 update being delayed, is that the right away to go about this?
There should ostensibly be a separate team that's dedicated to working on the software for the Galaxy S24 series. It's likely not a matter of resources being pulled from the Galaxy S24 to focus more on sending out One UI 6.1 for all of the other devices. So it's rather difficult to understand at this point in time why things have been left the way they are right now.
One can only hope that whatever's causing this lapse of concentration for the Galaxy S24's software updates is resolved soon, so that we can once again hold on to hope that Samsung's update game will only go from strength to strength.
