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Why Software Updates Matter For Smartphones

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Photo by thedroidguy

One of the most overlooked features of a smartphone is the software. The software basically allows the hardware part of the device to boot up, send a message, take a photo, and do pretty much everything else that you can think of.

However, software is not perfect. Sometimes users may encounter bugs and glitches where smartphones tend to do something out of the ordinary (Nope, the Note 7 is an exception). Say, for example, opening an app but suddenly it crashes or performance seems to be laggy even though it’s the top of the line smartphone. It happens, nothing’s perfect in this world.

Software Updates

That’s when the software updates come in.

Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS currently lead the widely-used mobile operating systems today and they thrive hard to keep it secured and optimized.

What does software updates do?

1)Software updates secure our phone from malicious hackers

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We can’t deny that smartphone is a vital part of our lives from everyday living to business transactions. Especially that evolving technologies require us to be connected online, smartphone continues to serve as a “safe” for our private information. But is it safe?

As it gains more popularity, so as the threat of hacking into the software itself. By attempting and succeeding to do so, some stranger gains access to your bank information, private photos, messages and who knows what else.

Security engineers address this by improving and sometimes adding another level of security through updates.

2)Software updates keep things optimally running(sometimes)

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Just as mentioned earlier, software updates fix the bugs and glitches found in the operating system as well as improve battery optimization by applying a chunk of downloadable files or also known as patches.

Patches contain the codes needed to fix the issue but sometimes these could pave the way for a new bug. It’s kind of a cat and mouse situation. But even so, engineers make sure that it works properly before releasing it to the public.

3)Software updates maximize the capability of a device
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Photo by androidcentral

This is where negligence from people come into play. We believe it’s safe to say more than 50% of smartphone users do not pay attention to software versions.

Every year or so, Google and Apple create a major update of their own OS, and this “major update” includes new features, looks, security patches, battery optimization, and a bunch of other small things.

By using the latest software update from your respective manufacturer, users are actually expanding what the smartphone can do and improve its performance for the long run.

For example, Android 7.0 Nougat currently supports multitasking window which is not found on the previous version, Marshmallow.

Customers are actually blindsided by the camera and design of the smartphone when the performance itself may be a bit lagging behind.

Software updates sound great but…

Okay. Software updates seem cool and important but just like we said earlier – nothing is perfect in this world.

Getting software updates are not easy and it’s a long tedious waiting game.

Apart from Google’s Nexus and Pixel devices, and Apple’s iPhone that receives software updates in a “timely manner”, the rest like(but not limited to) Samsung, LG, Huawei, Xiaomi, and OPPO lags far behind. Not to mention that OPPO just released the Marshmallow(ver. 6) update for the OPPO F1s after the first developer preview of Android O(ver. 8). People actually waited half a year for that.

It only takes a few months for Google to send software updates for their own products but other manufacturers require at least 6 months that sometimes spans a full year.

What do you think of the software updates? Does it hold something of importance to you? Let us know in the comment section below.

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