On October 2, Samsung released a software update that bricked some older Galaxy smartphones. While Samsung has stopped further distribution of the update, those with jailbroken phones have been given a stark reminder of the importance of backing up their data.
On Wednesday, a lot of people online started complaining about their Samsung phones getting stuck in the boot (you can see examples here, hereand in newer comments here)
A Samsung representative confirmed to Ars Technica that an update to Samsung’s SmartThings Framework application for managing smart devices caused the problems;
We are aware that a limited number of Galaxy smartphones running Android 12 keep rebooting while updating to the latest version of the SmartThings app.
Samsung “immediately stopped the update” after learning of the problem and is “working to resolve the issues,” a company spokesperson said. According to reports from online users, Samsung has released a new update that people can download without jailbreaking their phones.
However, owners of affected older phones, namely the Galaxy S10 series, Galaxy Note 10 series, Galaxy M51 and Galaxy A90, were unable to connect their devices to delay the update. Many users who have already manually or automatically installed the update are still dealing with bricked devices.
A harsh reminder
Users with slated Galaxy phones were initially faced with a tough choice to go without the phone or perform a data wipe factory reset.
Samsung’s statement to Ars advised customers to “contact a Samsung contact center” for support, but it’s unclear whether a fix that doesn’t wipe the phone can be used.
