Samsung’s Latest Software Update May Be Bricking Older Phones: What You Need to Know

Samsung users always await updates with great eagerness, as these updates have every likelihood of introducing new features, enhancement in performance, and patches that add better security to the OS. In this case, however, there are apprehensions about the users of older phone models that they will raise alarm on the latest update from Samsung, as reports claim that the update may brick those older devices and cause their systems not to behave hence become unresponsive and inoperable.

This blog enlightens the reader on what is going on with Samsung’s latest software update, why that could affect your older devices, and what you can do to protect your mobile phones. Here you’ll find all the detail you need on how to ensure safety of your device and what you can do once it has been victimized.

What is “Bricking” and Why Is It Such a Problem?
The outcome of a bricked phone is becoming utterly unusable as either that it is caught in a boot loop or hangs in a freeze state, or even untimely unresponsive to any input. The term used here is “bricked,” which originates from the idea that the device is as useful as a brick. This usually results when there is a software glitch in an update that corrupts the operating system of the phone, hence, making the device unable to start or operate.

Unfortunately, due to this new software update from Samsung, this update has caused damage to older models of Galaxy S9 and S10 series, Galaxy Note 9 and Note 10, as well as some mid-range Galaxy A series. Why Should Older Phones Be Affected?
There are several reasons why older phones might be more at risk for bricking now with this update:

It may even come to a stage where the demand by the software is too high for older hardware, causing a device to crash or fail to finish the installation completely and even bricking devices sometimes.

It may also become incompatible due to the addition of new features and versions over time, leading to instability or complete failure during the update process.

Does not Get Optimized: Older devices are not tested and optimized to the same extent compared to a newer software update. For this reason, they become susceptible to issues such as bricking.

Signs of a Bricked Device After Upgrades
If you are a user of an older Samsung device and it is malfunctioning after the latest updation of software, you can expect to find some symptoms of:
The smartphone keeps getting stuck at the Samsung logo during its boot-up process
It is a never-ending boot loop where the mobile phone has been restarting time and again without loading
Won’t turn on or charge.
The screen and buttons seem dead and don’t respond to any sort of hard reset.
These symptoms show that your device is bricked and needs instant intervention

What Can You Do to Protect Your Phone?
If your old Samsung is still running on a previous version, there are some actions you can take to lock down your phone:

Wait for the Update: If you have not installed the latest update yet, then it would be best to wait until Samsung fixes those issues or releases a patch that will prevent bricking.

Always, when updating the software on your phone, make sure to back up whatever important data you have on your phone. You can do this through Samsung Cloud, Google Drive, or even a local backup on your computer. This will save your precious information should the worst-case scenario happen-bricking of your phone.

Check on Warnings and User Feedback: Look through the news or some forums where owners of similar models express their opinion about a problem occurring due to the update. If it is widespread, it might be wise to wait for an authoritative statement from Samsung first.

Manual Update: If you prefer to be a tech person, then you can download an update for manual installation with the help of the Smart Switch tool installed on your PC. At times, manual download helps bypass some of the errors encountered during a forced automatic update.

What to Do if Your Samsung Bricked?

If your smartphone has already been affected, and now it’s dead after the software update of the latest version, here is what you should do:

Performing a Hard Reset: You can do this by holding your phone’s power button along with the volume down button, holding for some 10 to 20 seconds. Usually, this will cause the phone to do a hard reset, and it may boot up again.

Reboot to Safe Mode: If the device won’t boot all the way up, for example, try booting to Safe Mode by holding the power and volume down buttons at start-up. Safe Mode stops third-party apps from loading and can help you bypass any software conflict.

Factory hard reset In the case that problem still persists, you should perform a factory hard reset if you have not yet done so. Keep in mind that it will clear your all your information, so do this only if you’ve already had a backup or in such emergencies that left you with no alternative.

Go to an Authorized Service Center: If that does not work, go to a Samsung authorized service center or contact their customer support. Chances are, they should have it reflashed with the original firmware or repair the device if that’s a known bricking issue.

Is Samsung Aware of the Problem?
There are numerous reports of bricked devices coming to light, so it is no surprise when Samsung tries to mend the situation. Prior incidents of such kind prompted most high-tech companies to unveil responses in the form of software patches or firmware rollbacks fairly soon. So, one needs to remain alert and watch the announcements from Samsung whether it is prepared to issue a fix or patch to sort out this bricking problem.

Conclusion
So, perhaps there are serious issues with the new firmware revision of Samsung – it bricks most of the older phone models. Users of older models should backup data and wait for future updates or patches to appear from Samsung’s end.

If it has already infected, you still can attempt recovery of your device through the hard resets, safe mode, or a factory reset. As usual, stay informed and wary before seeking major software updates, especially when using an older device.

Stay in touch for further updates, as Samsung probably will surely attend to this matter soon.