Update: Republished on April 17 with more bad news for Samsung as its Android 15 nightmare gets worse, and an upgraded release schedule for One UI 7.
Samsung has an update problem. The Galaxy-maker was nearly six months behind Google’s Pixel with its One UI 7 port of Android 15, and critical security fixes for Android’s all too frequent zero-day attacks have often trailed Pixels as well — albeit not this month. In the world of $1500 to $2000 flagships, none of this is good. And now the latest news out of both Samsung and Google could make all that worse — much worse.
Samsung’s One UI 7 delay has been described as a “disaster” for the company. But as it finally rolls out, the PR around a much faster Android 16 and One UI 8 schedule had seemed to signal a recovery. But now another setback. Per specialist SamMobile: Samsung’s “One UI 7 release timeline for multiple devices [is] not good news,” and “what we feared has come true: only flagship devices launched in the last two years will get the update in April. Other devices will get the update in May and June.”
Given that this One UI 8 “insider” reports (via 9to5Google) suggest “Samsung launching One UI 8, based on Android 16, as soon as July with new foldables,” this timeline starts to look a bit spicy to say the least. It now seems safe to assume that Pixel users across the board will be enjoying Android 16 with all its security and privacy updates long before Samsung users on anything but new flagships can do the same. Again.
All this is made worse because within hours of Samsung’s schedule news, Android Police reported that “Google updated a record number of Pixels this week… a whopping 16 phones, tablets, and foldables.” When adding in recent Pixel Watches, “you’ve got a grand total of 19 Pixels that saw updates from Google.” This was just the regular monthly security and feature update, but it shows how seamless Pixel’s process is now.
Meanwhile, Samsung have been hit again as its One UI 7 rollout stops suddenly and unexpectedly. Samsung confirmed to me that “the One UI 7 rollout schedule is being updated to ensure the best possible experience. The new timing and availability will be shared shortly.” And there is now mixed speculation as to when it will restart.
This has prompted unsurprising user concern, following on from One UI 7 delays. As SammyFans warns, “Samsung is the largest Android device ecosystem partner and the biggest smartphone seller around the globe, but its software updates and rollout needs to be more transparent than the current version. The situation around One UI 7 is the perfect example and how this low-transparency is making a massive impact on the company’s brand value despite improving a lot.”
Meanwhile, Android Central says “it’s frustrating that Samsung is continuing to run into issues on the stable One UI 7 build, considering the brand ran a lengthy four-month beta testing program that was meant to iron out these problems. I understand the need to be cautious with these things — particularly if it affects something as basic as unlocking a phone — but Samsung should have done a better job addressing these issues well before it got to the stable release.”
SamMobile says that “Samsung apologized in [an] official statement about [the] One UI 7 delay saga,” explaining that “in Korea, Samsung has sent a notification in the Samsung Members app notifying users that it has temporarily suspended the One UI 7 rollout. The brand says that it has taken this step “due to some issues requiring maintenance.” Samsung further adds that once it completes the inspection, it will resume the rollout. It also apologizes to users for the inconvenience.”
Perhaps one Redditor best summed up the mood: “At this point they should just cancel this and go straight to 8/Android 16.” The later One UI 7 becomes, the more it’s going to hit just as Pixels expect a stable Android 16 release.
Samsung has now seemingly updated its One UI 7 upgrade schedule, and it’s a case of bad news getting worse for millions of frustrated users. Per 9to5Google, “Galaxy users can’t exactly seem to catch a break between the delayed One UI 7 launch and now a delayed rollout. After One UI 7 was recently delayed due to a severe bug, Samsung released an updated schedule, pushing some devices out to July.”
It won’t escape notice that while Android 16 could be released in June, “Samsung has seemingly pushed some devices back all the way to July in a new One UI 7 schedule. The original schedule was updated earlier in the month, though those timeframes are no longer valid for most devices. Most have seemingly been pushed back a month. The list notes that the Galaxy S23 will now get One UI 7 in May instead of the originally planned April. The Galaxy S24, Z Fold 6, and Z Flip 6 are still scheduled for April, assuming Samsung can patch the latest issues that seemed to have delayed the rollout.”
That’s based on a Reddit post that has shared this members app notice. But as one reply to the new schedule puts it, “does someone in Samsung understand how awful it looks? The whole upgrade saga, delays, when delays again, when “we didn’t test it properly”, when another delay? This is awful. This is a shame, I have no words to describe how bad Samsung does such things like OS upgrades.”
This now gives Samsung a One UI 8 problem, because the rollout of 2024’s Android 15 upgrade is going to be coming out just as 2025’s Android 16 upgrade hits other phones. One can only imagine the pressure in Korea to resolve this issue in time for a seamless One UI 8 deployment across all recent flagships over the summer.
SamMobile reports that “at the same time that Samsung has been making a mess of the One UI 7 rollout, keeping millions of fans and customers waiting for the update, the company has been working on One UI 8. This year, there isn’t going to be a minor point update to One UI. Samsung will go straight from One UI 7 to One UI 8, though based on our experience with an early version of One UI 8 running on the Galaxy Z Flip 6, Samsung may just have disguised 7.1 as 8.0.”
But there’s clearly much more to do, even as Google preps its raft of new security and privacy features as well as new core functionality for its release. SamMobile says “One UI 8 in its current form is an incredibly small update. For the most part, it seems the new features are simply those that Samsung could have released with One UI 7 but chose not to… One UI 8 is still in the development phase, so there may be more new features, improvements, and changes Samsung is planning to implement. However, you may want to temper your expectations. One UI 7 is one of the biggest updates to One UI in years, so it’s highly unlikely that Samsung will do much with One UI 8.”
All of this is critical, because in the security and privacy stakes Apple’s capacity to update everyone, everywhere has set a high bar for others to match. And in reality, only Google with its end-to-end control of Pixel’s hardware and software can come close. As I’ve said before, this is an Achilles’ heel for Android’s fragmented ecosystem and it’s an awkward backdrop with Google controlling Android while competing with other OEMs.
Android 15 was a significant update when it comes to making Android phones safer and more secure, with malware and anti-scam defenses, wired and wireless connectivity protection, and better policing of dangerous third-party installs. We are already seeing some details on Android 16 doing more of the same. If you’re spending $2000 on a new flagship, or if you have one that’s a year or two old, you don’t want an extended wait.
In my view it’s critical that One UI 8 rolls out faster and further than One UI 7, and doesn’t leave it too long between new flagships and the rest. None of this has held back Galaxy sales as yet, and its own Android 15 release is excellent. But Pixel is widening the gap when it comes to updates and upgrades and that’s not good for Samsung or the overall Android proposition. It’s also bad news for Google, raising awkward questions.
Something needs to change.
Meanwhile, if you’re a frustrated Samsung Galaxy owner awaiting One UI 7, here’s the latest upgrade schedule courtesy of 9to5Google:
“April 2025
- Galaxy S24
- Galaxy S24+
- Galaxy S24 Ultra
- Galaxy Z Flip 6
- Galaxy Z Fold 6
May 2025
- Galaxy Tab S10+
- Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra
- Galaxy Z Flip 5
- Galaxy Z Fold 5
- Galaxy S23
- Galaxy S23+
- Galaxy S23 Ultra
- Galaxy Tab S10+ 5G
- Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra 5G
- Galaxy S24 FE
- Galaxy Z Flip 4
- Galaxy Z Fold 4
- Galaxy Tab S9
- Galaxy Tab S9 5G
- Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra
- Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra 5G
- Galaxy Z Flip 3
- Galaxy Z Fold 3
- Galaxy S21 5G
- Galaxy S21+ 5G
- Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
- Galaxy S23 FE
- Galaxy Tab S8
- Galaxy Tab S8+
- Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra
- Galaxy S22
- Galaxy S22+
- Galaxy S22 Ultra
- Galaxy Tab S8 5G
- Galaxy Tab S8+ 5G
- Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra 5G
- Galaxy S21 FE
June 2025
- Galaxy Tab S9 FE
- Galaxy Tab S9 FE 5G
- Galaxy Tab S9 FE+
- Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ 5G
- Galaxy A16 5G
- Galaxy A35 5G
- Galaxy A55 5G
- Galaxy F16 5G
- Galaxy M16 5G
- Galaxy M35 5G
- Galaxy M55 5G
- Galaxy A34 5G
- Galaxy A54 5G
- Galaxy F15 5G
- Galaxy M15 5G
- Galaxy A25 5G
- Galaxy F55 5G
- Galaxy M55s 5G
- Galaxy A05s
- Galaxy A15 5G
- Galaxy A73 5G
- Galaxy F05
- Galaxy F34 5G
- Galaxy F54 5G
- Galaxy M05
- Galaxy M34 5G
- Galaxy Tab A9+ 5G
- Galaxy A14
- Galaxy A14 5G
- Galaxy A33 5G
- Galaxy A53 5G
- Galaxy F14
- Galaxy M14
- Galaxy Tab A9+
- Galaxy A06
- Galaxy XCover7
- Galaxy F14 5G
- Galaxy M14 5G
- Galaxy M33 5G
- Galaxy M53 5G
July 2025
- Galaxy Tab A9”