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With a new version of Android being rolled out, many people will notice on their phones that it’s time for a software update. No doubt a lot of people won’t want to do it, even if they should.
Updating your software can be difficult. Some phones just act silently and tell you to restart when they’re done, and others seem to take forever and prevent you from using your phone while it’s all happening. The latter is a big reason why people don’t like the idea of updating, I think.
Either way, there are three excellent reasons why you should click the button to download and install the update waiting for you: security, functionality, and compatibility.
Security
The software on your phone is full of bugs and potential security holes, regardless of brand or operating system. All software is like that, and always will be.
Almost all of these problems will never surface, and no one ever realizes they are there. Almost all. There are plenty of reports that mobile software security has become big business, and it’s quite common to hear about a hack or exploit that bypasses the security built into your phone’s software.
There are also a lot of people watching. Unsavory people. The kind of people who know how to get into your stuff and profit from it. Whenever there is profit to be had, many people will try to be part of it.
You’ll probably never get hacked unless you do something you shouldn’t, like clicking random links or trying to use cracked apps from unreliable sources. But updating your phone will undo a lot of the way people do it now, forcing them to spend time looking for a new way rather than exploiting unsuspecting people.
Keep in mind that your phone is connected to a network, which means it is connected to billions of other phones. By protecting yourself, you also protect everyone else.
Functionality
Every major version update to your phone’s software comes with new features and unless you accept it, you won’t be able to use it.
Some of these features probably seem silly to you. Others also seem like something you would want, so updating means you get both the good and the bad. However, no one says you should ever use the dumb one.
More importantly, each version update also improves functionality in other ways. Remember how I reminded you that your phone’s software was full of bugs? Many of these shortcomings also affect the way your phone works. Updates almost always fix bugs and glitches on your phone, even the ones that drive you crazy.
Moreover, bugs are also patched. Things like battery safety issues or connectivity issues are often found hidden in a version update. Even if you’re not interested in the new features you read about, you really want this stuff.
Many people think that a software update makes your phone slower, and that may be true. Your phone can only do so many things, and if you try to force it to do more, it can become slow and sluggish. Hopefully the company that made your phone understands that it needs to keep some of these new user-facing features on older or budget phones. It’s always better not to buy anything new than to ruin what worked before.
Compatibility
Updates often bring changes that your network provider needs and those are important. Your phone isn’t very useful unless it can connect to the outside world.
But both Android and iOS tie the features of third-party apps to the version of the operating system you’re using, and that makes accepting an update more important than you might realize.
With Android, each platform version introduces a new set of APIs (Application Programming Interface) that allow apps to work with your phone’s operating system and hardware. Most of these APIs remain unchanged from version to version, but often we see new ones and changes that make previous versions obsolete.
Normally Google does a good job of maintaining backward compatibility so things don’t break immediately, but sometimes this isn’t the case. If you don’t update, your existing apps may stop working, which means you won’t be able to update the apps themselves, or you won’t be able to install a new app.
Google tries to avoid this by using so-called Google Play Services for the things it likes to play with, but with Play Store changes becoming a real possibility due to antitrust concerns, who knows how this will work in the future?
It is best to accept the software update as soon as it becomes available for your phone.
Ultimately, only you can decide whether to install an update or not. It’s your phone and no one else gets to tell you what to do with it. You might even have a good reason to be one or two versions behind.
However, for most of us, installing the update is a good idea. It’s the best way to stay safe, stay compatible, and enjoy new features without buying anything new.
