Most Android OEMs, with the exception of Samsung, have embraced the seamless upgrades feature that Google first announced back in 2016. The Galaxy A55 is the first Samsung smartphone to have seamless upgrades, a feature that the Korean company had promised to add to its Android handsets eight years after announcing that it was working on it.

Recent firmware version A556EXXS1AXC1 for the Samsung Galaxy A55 delivered the seamless updates feature to the smartphone along with the March 2024 Android security patch, which was received in India. Upon downloading an update, customers will therefore receive two messages: “Downloading and installing” and “Verification.”

Because of the seamless updates function, you can use partition A of your phone while the update is installed on partition B, and then restart it once the installation is finished. This eliminates the need for you to wait several minutes for the installation process to finish before using your phone. Instead, it keeps the device functional during the installation and is only unusable while it is rebooting, which on the Galaxy A55 could take up to 90 seconds.

The next Samsung smartphone to receive seamless upgrades is unknown, but it’s unlikely that earlier models will be able to use it because the device must be set up for this feature before it is shipped from the factory.