Samsung Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, Galaxy S23 Ultra Do Not Support Seamless Updates on Android 13: Report

On phones that do not support seamless updates, users have to wait for several minutes while an update is installed.

Written by David Delima, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 6 February 2023 15:59 IST

Samsung Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, Galaxy S23 Ultra Do Not Support Seamless Updates on Android 13: Report

Samsung Galaxy S23 series runs on Android 13 out-of-the-box

Highlights

Samsung Galaxy S23 series was launched on February 1
Seamless updates were introduced by Google in 2016
None of Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones support seamless updates

Samsung Galaxy S23 series — comprising the company's flagship Samsung Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra — was launched by the company last week. While the firm announced changes and improvements to the hardware and software, it is reportedly still using an outdated method of updating its newest handsets instead of Google's seamless updates mechanism. As a result, updates could take longer to install on the Galaxy S23 lineup compared to other recently launched flagship phones, such as the Pixel 7 series.

Google introduced a new feature for Android smartphones in 2016 called seamless updates. Instead of rendering a user's phone useless during an update and forcing a user to wait for the process to complete, these updates are installed in the background, during day-to-day use. As a result, when the process is completed, users only have to perform a quick reboot to begin using the updated system.

A 9to5Google report states that the Samsung Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S33 Ultra do not have support for seamless updates. The publication says it tested the flagship smartphones with Inware and the Treble Check apps for Android, and both reported that the phones don't support the functionality. Gadgets 360 used the Treble Check application on the Galaxy S23 Ultra and was able to confirm that the app reported seamless updates were unsupported on the handset.

Samsung Galaxy S23 (left) and Galaxy S23 Ultra (right) don't support seamless updates

Last September, Esper's Mishal Rahman stated that Android 13's virtual A/B mandate would bring seamless updates to even more phones that run on Google's mobile operating system. Samsung is one of the most popular smartphone manufacturers that are yet to support seamless updates on its devices.

When updates are installed on a smartphone that doesn't support seamless updates, the system reboots the device to start the update process. This can take up to 20 minutes, depending on the size of the update and the smartphone's inbuilt storage.

On phones with seamless updates, the handset has two system partitions (A/B partitions) and updates are installed on one partition while the system is running on the other. If the update process fails, the phone simply reboots into the original partition and tries to install the update again. Once the process is complete, the system boots from the updated partition, which should take around a minute.

Last October, Hyesoon (Sally) Jeong, Vice President at Samsung Electronics stated in an interview that the company was working on offering seamless updates and that it would roll out to devices with One UI 6 this year. This means that users may have to wait for an update to Android 14 to gain access to seamless updates, but Samsung is yet to officially make an announcement on this front.

Samsung's Galaxy S23 series of smartphones was launched earlier this week and the South Korean firm's high-end handsets have seen a few upgrades across all three models. What about the increase in pricing? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Samsung Galaxy S23

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Compact design that?s hard to beat
Long-term software update commitment
Good performance, effective heat management
All-day battery life
IP68 rated

Bad
Only minor design changes
Relatively slow charging

Read detailed Samsung Galaxy S23 review

Display 6.10-inch

Processor Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 12-megapixel + 10-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB

Battery Capacity 3,900mAh

OS Android 13

More Samsung mobiles Samsung mobiles price in India

Samsung Galaxy S23+

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display 6.60-inch

Processor Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 12-megapixel + 10-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 256GB, 512GB

Battery Capacity 4,700mAh

OS Android 13

More Samsung mobiles Samsung mobiles price in India

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Unique design
Bright and accurate display
Good gaming performance
Excellent cameras, quality video recording
Solid battery life

Bad
Expensive
Still too large for most hands
Loaded with bloatware
Relatively slow charging

Read detailed Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review

Display 6.80-inch

Processor Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 200-megapixel + 12-megapixel + 10-megapixel

RAM 8GB, 12GB

Storage 256GB, 512GB, 1TB

Battery Capacity 5000mAh

OS Android 13

More Samsung mobiles Samsung mobiles price in India

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Further reading: Samsung Galaxy S23, Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, Seamless Updates, Samsung, Google

David Delima

Email David Delima

As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More