Republished on February 5th with further reports into update timings and news that Pixel has beaten Samsung to February’s update.
While January was a huge month for Samsung, February could be even bigger. The launch of the AI flagship Galaxy S25 was a major milestone, but the device landing in users’ hands and the Android 15 / One UI 7 upgrade it brings with it will determine how well everyone is feeling come the end of this month. Samsung can’t get this wrong.
While Google was very much Samsung’s partner on the S25 development and launch, with Gemini now as prominent as Galaxy AI on the phone, it has not done its partner any favors as February gets underway. This month’s Android security update includes a zero-day under active exploitation, and nothing highlights Samsung’s update issues as well as emergency fixes that need to reach its entire user base urgently. The fix is currently missing from their February security update.
Google warns Android users that CVE-2024-53104 “may be under limited, targeted exploitation.” This vulnerability affects Android’s core Linux kernel, mishandling video frames, potentially triggering memory instability. It is now being exploited in targeted attacks, but history suggests that may expand as users await the fix.
Samsung has played it both ways with such vulnerabilities before, sometimes releasing them immediately and other times waiting for the following month. It’s currently and surprisingly not included in their February release. I have asked the company why. There’s another critical security fix in Android’s update, and this one is also missing, but that’s less a surprise.
CVE-2024-45569 is a Qualcomm fix and so only applies to devices with its relevant chipsets. Samsung tends to include such third-party component fixes a month later than Google, and so this one will likely run to March. Fortunately, there are no suggestions this has come under attack, unlike the Qualcomm fixes last year.
The bad news for new Galaxy S25 buyers is that the current firmware update only includes December’s security update. It’s likely that will be remedied quickly — but that hasn’t happened yet. And it will highlight the patchy update process that continues to frustrate users. The S25 should see Pixel-like seamless updates, a first for a Samsung flagship, but that won’t in itself speed up the process.
Owners of Galaxy S24s will also be waiting for the February security update, albeit the usual merry-g0-round by region and carrier sill start imminently, There’s a clear benefit when it comes to these monthly Android updates in having a Pixel.
The February update is out now for Pixels, and whole it can take a week to get around the entire user base, it’s normally faster. It’s also fairly predictable. That’s very different over on the Samsung side of the house.
As Android Police reports, “the February 2025 update is now rolling out to all Pixel devices running Android 15. However, depending on your device, carrier, and region, it might take a few days to reach everyone. The build number for this update is AP4A.250205.002, though it may differ slightly if you’re using a carrier-locked Pixel. The update carries a security patch level dated February 5, 2025.”
As I’ve commented before, it’s tricky for other OEMs to match Google when it comes to timely updates. Just as it’s more a challenge to bespoke Android 15 and will be the same with Android 16, which leads to those delays as well.
And on the note, the bad news for Galaxy S24 owners remains the wait for One UI 7’s stable release, bringing Android 15 to the Samsung masses. This is an excellent upgrade and makes Samsung phones materially safer and more secure, narrowing the gap to iPhone — its main competitor pre S25s hitting shelves. It can’t come soon enough.
Officially, this should come out by the end of the first quarter for relatively new flagships. The S25 gets it right out of the box. But the feeling now seems to be that S24 owners might see the February security update before they see One UI 7, which is good from a fix perspective but frustrating from a feature perspective. There is no new news, though, just lots of speculation and users keen to see the new firmware released.
Samsung has positioned One UI 7 as a major security and privacy upgrade, and your device will be notably improved when it upgrades. You’ll also be able to take advantage of Google’s new spam and malware protections, much of which leans heavily on device AI to enhance security with compromising privacy.
As SammyFans reports, “recently, our senior writer contacted Samsung Support U.S. to inquire about the status of the stable One UI 7 update. When asked about a tentative release timeline, the support executive stated that they did not have a specific date for the update. Something seems off, raising the possibility of another slight delay in the distribution. The support representative also noted, ‘we can’t speculate on this’ — likely a move to prevent fans from creating hype, as has happened many times in the past.”
Meanwhile, the Galaxy S25 is now getting into customer hands. Per SamMobile, “Samsung launched the Galaxy S25 series in India and opened pre-orders for it in the country on the same day it unveiled the lineup globally at the Galaxy Unpacked event in San Jose, California. Back then, the company had announced that it would start delivering the devices to people in the country who pre-order them, on 4 February 2025. Well, the brand has stayed true to its words.”
Whatever phone you’re using, make sure you update as soon as you can. A Google warning of this sort must be taken seriously. You can check to ensure you’re on Samsung’s monthly update schedule here. And the release will be announced here.
