Historically, Android hasn’t had a stellar reputation regarding software updates. Thankfully, this situation has improved quite a bit over the last five years or so. In 2023, it is relatively common for Android flagships to receive at least a few years of OS updates and security patches, and even many budget phones receive at least one OS upgrade. Of course, not all manufacturers are equal in their commitment to software updates.
Google and Samsung have been two of the main leaders in software support in the Android world. Still, neither has ever come close to Apple’s support prowess — until now. Google just announced a major change to its update policy that is extremely impressive, to say the least. The competition is certainly heating up, but who has the best software update policy in the mobile world? The answer isn’t so cut and dry.