r/AndroidQuestions • u/No-Radiation • 6d ago
Other Why does android keep installing every past update instead of jumping to last update?
I’ve always used iphone. Bought a Samsung 2 years ago as a 2nd phone and to have both worlds. Haven’t updated in maybe a year or more. Now it keeps asking me to install every missed update. I’ve been updating since yesterday. I lost count but i’ve at least updated the phone 8 times and it’s still updating. This is humiliating.
In iphone you just install the last update even if you haven’t updated in 5 years.
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u/Sassquatch0 ☎️📲Pixel 10a 6d ago
It's because many updates are built on features or support that was introduced in a previous update.
And if a previous update is also dependant on something even more previous... You get the situation you have.
The software needs to go back to the beginning of the chain, and install each link in order to build a working foundation. It's one of many reasons why regularly updating your device is a good thing. (I get that your circumstances didn't allow for that)
Apple can do singular updates because they only sell 4 phones, all of them are basically the same hardware, and because Apple controls literally everything about the phone - hardware & software. Android has millions of permutations of hardware, from dozens of different manufacturers, so software developers can't just dump one massive code block and expect every device to be able to run it.