Back in 2016, the Android operating system received seamless updates. The 11th version of the mobile OS was supposed to make this option mandatory for all manufacturers. But it turned out that Samsung’s latest flagships did not get such a convenient opportunity to install system updates.
Galaxy S21
Seamless updates have long been available on Google smartphones and gadgets from some other manufacturers like Motorola, OnePlus and LG. It consists in using two system partitions: primary and backup. When an update becomes available, it is installed into the backup partition, and after a reboot, the partitions are “swapped” and the user gets the updated device. The point is that the entire download and installation process takes place in the background, and not during reboots, which sometimes take several minutes or even more.
And although this is a very convenient feature, Samsung for some reason decided not to implement it in the new flagships of the Galaxy S21 series running out of the box on Android 11.
Interestingly, in the past, Google has only recommended that Android device makers use seamless updates. However, last year in the documentation for Android 11 they found a clause according to which this option should have become mandatory for use on all new devices. If you look at the current version of Android 11 CDD from January 2021, the support is again advisory in nature.
It’s unclear why Google changed its stance and why Samsung didn’t implement this handy feature.
Source: 4PDA