Android has come a long way in the past decade.When I first started professionally reviewing smartphones in 2016, I fell in love with the variety of design and specs you can choose from depending on your budget, but one thing I couldn’t forgive was the general lack of software updates.Even major Android players such as Samsung only offered two or maybe three years of software updates on even their priciest handsets, and it wasn’t unusual to see cheaper Android phones get barely a year of support, leaving them vulnerable to software bugs and online hacks when their owners should have been encouraged to hold onto the devices for as long as they were functional.Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT Read more: Samsung’s next Galaxy flagship could spell the end of the screen protector Read more: Five new Android phones you won't want to miss in 2026 The day's biggest headlines in UK and World news Subscribe Invalid emailWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you.
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Thankfully it’s a different story in 2026.Google and Samsung now offer seven years of software updates for many of their smartphones, while firms such as Honor and OnePlus have improved their software promises too.It means if you have a modern Android phone, you will enjoy monthly security fixes in the form of free software updates.These updates land in the settings apps of Android phones, starting with Google’s own Pixel devices.
Because Google owns and maintains Android, it patches security and privacy bugs and is able to push out updates fastest to its own phones.Google publishes a monthly Android Security Bulletin that publicly lays out what it has fixed in the latest Android update.Once this is out, all Android manufacturers are able to implement the fixes and push them out to their customers’ devices.It’s all on these Android brands to make sure these software updates reach your phone.
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENTIf you have an Android phone, it’s a good idea to head to your Settings app and see if you have any software updates waiting to be installed.This month’s update could be there for you, and one expert says you should not delay downloading it.Article continues below ADVERTISEMENTNearby Share: Android explain how mobile users can use feature “Although the security bulletin released by Google is short, it addresses a serious and long-running flaw that Android users should not ignore,” said Adam Boynton, Senior Security Strategy Manager EMEIA at Jamf, a security firm.
“The vulnerability was discovered in 2025; however, this fix means it has now been patched at the Android platform level.”“The vulnerability, CVE-2025-54957, is a flaw in Dolby’s DD+ (Dolby Digital Plus) Unified Decoder that allows an attacker to run malicious code.Most notably, on Android OS, audio attachments and voice messages are decoded locally; therefore, the flaw can be exploited without any user interaction.”This sounds ominous, though in reality you are very unlikely to be personally targeted with any kind of hack, even if you havent updated your phone this month.However, if you were still using a phone from 2016 with no modern updates like I mentioned previously, you would be wide open to a plethora of security flaws that had built up over the years.Smartphone updates are much more frequent than they once were, and that is a good thing.“This month’s bulletin is a reminder that regular patching is one of the most effective ways to reduce mobile risk,” Boynton added.
“Whether using Android or iOS, keeping devices updated remains the single best defence against modern mobile threats.”
