If you are one ofVerizon’s millions of customers, you may want to check your phone for an update. Beginning December 28, the mobile service provider has been rolling out updates to eleven different devices. The devices set to receive the update span three different manufacturers and include Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note 5, and Galaxy Note Edge, with Samsung’s Galaxy S5, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge and S6 Edge+ also receiving an update. Also included are Motorola’s Moto Z DROID , Moto Z Force DROID, and Moto Z Play DROID. Lastly, the HTC 10 will be getting an update as well.
The update itself is nothing too exciting and each of the above-mentioned device updates bears essentially the same update message. Reading further into the messages reveals that these updates are only for the purpose of bringing the respective devices up to date with security patches. Google does have an entirely new security patch planned for early 2017. While it is not known whether these updates that Verizon is pushing, have anything to do with that, it is unlikely since Google is not expected to have that particular update ready for release until the first week of January. Because security updates generally deal more with under-the-hood or behind-the-scenes code adjustments, users should not expect any user interface or functionality changes on any of the devices receiving this update. However, security patches are still very important, so it is recommended that this update is installed when it arrives.
Don’t be too alarmed if you haven’t received the update yet. Software rollouts can take several days or even weeks to hit all users. Users can wait for the update to appear in your notification bar or they can check for the update manually. If you have not yet received the push notification for this update and would like to check manually, you can do so through your device’s settings menu. The option to check for software updates is ordinarily placed in either the “About Phone” or “System Updates” submenu, depending on the device. As always, it is a good practice to make sure your device is fully charged before beginning the update.