The new Samsung smartphones of the S23 series do not support the Android function »seamless system updates«.
This was reported last Friday by the specialist portal »9to5google«.
That was surprising, after all, Google had already presented this technology in 2016 - for Android 7.
Put simply, it is intended to make updates more secure by keeping two versions of Android on the phone so that updates can be installed in the background while the device continues to be used normally.
The next time you restart, the newer system will be used.
The process requires more storage space, but you always have a backup system in case something goes wrong during the update.
Up to 60 GB for the operating system
It may be that extra storage space that is preventing Samsung from rolling seamless updates into its version of the Android operating system.
Because, as reported by several specialist media, including the “Android Authority”, an unusually bloated Android is working on the new Samsung smartphones.
Up to 60 GB of the built-in storage space would be occupied by the system software.
And right after commissioning.
Since the basic version of the S23 is offered with 128 GB of memory, which is also not expandable, this would be catastrophic for buyers of this variant.
With my test devices, however, I could not understand the enormous information provided by the Android bloggers.
At least not entirely.
Nevertheless: On my Galaxy S23 Ultra, the operating system and pre-installed software take up almost 45 GB, on the Galaxy S23 with 128 GB of storage space it is 32 GB.
Far less than reported in the reports, but still far too much.
This is shown by the comparison with other current Android smartphones.
Google's Pixel 7 Pro, for example, is content with less than 15 GB, the T-Phone from T-Mobile even with 10 GB.
The numbers don't mean the same everywhere.
By default, Samsung also adds the factory-installed apps to the memory occupied by the system, which are shown separately on the T-Phone, for example.
In both cases, the extra apps come to around 5.5 GB.
You have to add them to Samsung or add them to the others in order to be able to compare them.
But even then it remains clear: Samsung's system requires around two to three times more storage space than the Android versions of the competition.
And about as much as a freshly installed Windows 11.
see double
There are many attempts to explain this.
Ars Technica believes the Korean company has "a shoddy software department that puts out inferior code."
In addition, the company tends to “change everything about Android just for the sake of the change”.
In any case, it's true that Samsung is trying its best not just to put its own look on Google's Android, which is particularly en vogue with Chinese manufacturers.
In fact, the Koreans built their own version of almost everything that connects Google to Android.
They replace the Google Assistant with their own language assistant Bixby, install their own photo album, their browser, their messaging app and a number of other applications that duplicate Google apps.
Samsung even places its own app store, the Galaxy Store, on the start page.
Sure - the company earns money from app sales, just like Apple and Google in their app stores.
However, because Google's Android license terms require manufacturers of Android smartphones that certain Google apps must be visible on the start screen, Samsung's strategy means that many things appear twice: two browsers, two language assistants, two photo albums and much more.
On the smartphones, the apps of one company are stored in a "Samsung" folder, those of the other in the "Google" folder.
Right next to it is the "Microsoft" folder - Office, Outlook, OneDrive and LinkedIn are also pre-installed if you ever need them.
The device manufacturers do not do this out of pure customer love.
Lucrative commissions are paid for some apps if they are pre-installed.
Inflated
Bloatware, inflated software, is called something like that – and it varies in size everywhere.
For example, it is standard that smartphones that are obtained from mobile phone providers also have their apps installed.
On the T-Phone, these include MeinMagenta, Magenta TV and MagentaCloud.
Apps from streaming providers such as Netflix or games, for example, are often installed ex works.
With the S23, this leads to sometimes drastic differences in the size of the system, as “Sammobile” reports.
An S23 Ultra in India is content with a still impressive 38 GB, while the same model in the Netherlands requires 58 GB.
If you want to find out for yourself how much storage space your smartphone's operating system uses, take a look.
On current Samsung smartphones, the corresponding information should be found in the
settings
under
battery and device maintenance
under
storage space
.
On many other Android phones, the entry in question can be seen in the settings under
Storage
.
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