Android updates don’t matter anymore, and it’s all Google’s fault

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Android updates don’t matter. I know that’s a provocative thing to say. Android updates fix bugs, address security vulnerabilities, and add new features to your phone. Yet, I stand by my statement.

Android updates don’t matter, at least not in the same way they used to. The way Google does things in 2026 is not the same as the way it did things back in 2008, and that’s not always a bad thing.

Gemini launched in 2023, the same year as Android 14. So, would you be right in thinking that you need Android 14 to use Gemini? No. The minimum requirement to use Gemini on Android is Android 9.0 Pie, released in 2018. The original Google Pixel was updated to Android 10, so every Pixel phone Google has ever made supports what is arguably one of the most important additions to Android ever.

That’s one example of many. In the last year, Google gave us Ask Maps and Ask Photos , two incredibly useful features. The minimum Android version needed? Android 8.0 Oreo, so even the Nexus 5X and 6P have access. There’s a theme emerging here. Most of the new things Google announces for Android each year aren’t tied to an Android version — it’s dependent on the app that feature is a part of, and it rarely requires the latest Android update to be compatible.

This isn’t only the case for apps like Gemini or Google Photos. Google and most Android manufacturers update important apps, including system applications, through the Play Store, Galaxy Store, or whatever app store the phone comes with. This is a great way to handle updates because bugs and glitches can be squashed quickly without the user having to install an update and reboot their phone, and it skips the need for Android OEMs to prep the update for the dozens of phones they support.

Apple updates some apps via the App Store, such as GarageBand and iMovie. But important apps like Messages, the camera, Safari, and even Apple Music are updated via a full system update. So while Google can fix a bug in Google Messages or YouTube Music with a quick update on the Play Store that can reach every Android phone seamlessly, Apple has to send a full iOS update to supported devices. I know plenty of iOS and Android users who hate updating their phones and put it off for as long as possible — and only one of those groups will get new features and bug fixes to core apps without changing their ways.

When Apple inevitably releases a chart showing how many of its devices are on the latest version of iOS versus how many Android phones are on their latest OS version, remember that it isn’t as simple as that. The majority of Android phones have access to all of the latest features. As for vulnerabilities, Google, Samsung, and most other OEMs release security patches independently of major OS updates, and Google’s Play System Updates do the same — right from the Play Store on phones running Android 10 or newer.