By Contributor Zak Doffman
All change for Android?
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Android has a problem 鈥 and this one is not easily fixed. There鈥檚 a conflict at the center of the world鈥檚 most popular operating system, and it鈥檚 getting worse. What happens next is down to Samsung to decide. But it could change everything.
I have warned about this before. Google supplies Android to other manufacturers, but it also competes with those OEMs through its own Pixel devices. And while Pixel has a small market share compared to those others, it鈥檚 first to new features and upgrades.
Security and privacy were central to Android 15 and it鈥檚 the same now with Android 16. And that makes this more critical for users than regular feature updates.
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Samsung is the largest OEM, and yet it suffered the most during the rollout of Android 15, trailing Pixel by almost an entire upgrade cycle. Pixels were moving to Android 16 just as many Samsungs got their first taste of Android 15. And while Samsung鈥檚 Android 16 rollout is expected to be faster, we鈥檙e still waiting to see that actually goes.
Now that warning has been echoed by Android Authority. with 鈥渇ive reasons why Google鈥檚 Pixel software is better than Samsung鈥檚 One UI.鈥 But one of those reasons matters more than all the others. 鈥淣o matter what Samsung does to One UI,鈥 it says, 鈥渢he one advantage that Google will always have is faster updates.鈥
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In short, 鈥渁s the creator of Android, it鈥檚 easier for Google to optimize its Pixel lineup.鈥 While this is an especially acute time to have this debate, given 鈥渢he mess that was One UI 7,鈥 it goes beyond OS upgrades. Seamless and efficient security updates month after month and access to innovative new security features both come to mind.
While 鈥淪amsung has fixed its flawed One UI 7 update,鈥 Android Authority says, 鈥渋t鈥檚 done so just in time for everyone to turn their attention to One UI 8.鈥 The reality is that Google has made Pixel unbeatable when it comes to the pace and efficiency of updates and upgrades, and as AI becomes ever more intrinsic to Android, this will become more critical to users and will remove some of Samsung鈥檚 differentiation.
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We鈥檙e seeing the same in the narrowing gap between Android and iPhone, and again with Google鈥檚 suite of AI-driven apps available across different operating systems, the mobile space race changes and it鈥檚 half-life significantly reduces.
Whole Samsung will determine what happens next, the trigger may come from China rather than Korea. Huawei is now pushing a third mobile OS, bringing real competition to iOS and Android for the first time in decades. The pressure is on other Chinese OEMs to jump onboard, rebalancing away from U.S. tech. You can be certain that鈥檚 what being pushed in quiet corridors in Beijing and Shenzhen as being in the national interest.
While Pixel鈥檚 unbeatable upgrades are certainly bad news for Samsung, it could well be that they鈥檙e even worse news for Android.
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