Google has warned that Android phones are again under attack, with another serious vulnerability leaving devices exposed to hackers. Within 24 hours, it confirmed that all compatible Pixels “will receive these software updates starting today, and the rollout will continue over the next week in phases.” Good for Pixel — bad for everyone else.
This vulnerability is a memory issue first disclosed by Meta in March. As such, it’s surprising to see this turn up to generate Android headlines two months later. But that also means there should be no delay in other OEMs applying the fix. Samsung has just issued details of its own monthly update and the fix is included.
The twist is that this fix applies just to Android 13 and 14 — Android 12 and below are no longer supported, suggesting Android 15 is already patched. Pixels have already moved to the new OS and so this warning does not apply. Samsung is mid its One UI 7 rollout, with many millions of phones yet to upgrade. As such, it does apply.
Putting that aside, the challenge for Samsung is that it will run the latest monthly update across its global ecosystem through the rest of the month. And while its newest Galaxy flagships will be updated first, they’re also the most likely to be on Android 15. Older phones still on Android 14 will wait the longest for this critical Android 14 fix.
Between the efficiency of monthly updates — including the use of seamless updates which again almost all Samsungs do without — and the expediency of the OS upgrade, it’s again advantage Pixel, with other OEMs playing an unwinnable game of catch-up.
All eyes on Samsung’s One UI 8 rollout, complete with the teased fix for the leaky Secure Folder issue, and whether this next OS upgrade can address the awkward optics of One UI 7 which seemed to teeter from one problem to the next. We’re told this will be faster and closer behind Pixel, it really needs to, especially for $2000 flagships.
The bigger issue though is the oddity of Google supplying and competing with Android’s other OEMs. With its control of Pixel’s hardware through Android software, it has the full stack in the same way Apple does with iPhone. And while the Google-Samsung relationship is undoubtedly close and getting closer, Pixel is also undoubtedly more of a competitive threat than it has ever been before, especially in the premium category.
In China, there’s talk of OEMs moving away from Android, as Huawei has already done given sanctions restricting access to U.S. technology. Whisper it quietly, but the best thing for Samsung might be to do the same, to create a genuine iPhone competitor, with access to Google’s apps and services as needed — just as iPhones do now.
