Software updates do a lot good to one's device. But, if you are a normal user, should you update your device's software too?
Software upgrades, which have now become synonymous with smartphones, are essentially little updates for smartphone's operating system that allows the device to perform at its optimal level.
But, many smartphone users today do not trust these software upgrades and they think that updating their devices software might actually corrupt the device or can harm the data that has been saved on the device's memory.
Contrary to this popular belief, software upgrades help the device fix issues with the software hardware integration thereby improving the device's performance and thereby user's experience as well. Although in rare cases some software upgrades have been found out to be worsening a problem but those are one in a 100 cases and should not be taken as a benchmark by all the smartphone owners as a reason not to upgrade their device.
So why should you upgrade your device's software?
Stability
Smartphones are just like computers that run software, which is your operating system, on its hardware. When any changes to the software are made it affects the performance of the whole system. These changes can be caused by any application or any additional service like Adobe Flash that is being used by most smartphones today.
So in order to counter any ill effect, the developers and manufacturers of the devices work in tandem testing out applications and software which might cause instability to the device and release software patches in the from of software upgrades, helping the operating system stay in the best possible shape and enhancing device's stability as well.
Bug fixes
Many a times, certain versions of operating systems found to be causing troubles for smartphones, leading to a bad user experience. Such problems are even found in newly launched handsets.
A classic example of it would be the iPhone 4S which received an upgrade just after the launch of the device.
Apart from battery, there are hundreds of components inside a smartphone that need to operate optimally to perform well but it anything malfunctions, it can be corrected through software upgrades or at least some basic repair work can be attempted by the company.
Security
One of the biggest concerns that smartphone users have today is the security of the data that is saved by these devices automatically and also by the users while doing multiple things like financial transactions and online purchases.
Today cyber criminals are exploiting smartphones in everyway in order to find out a loophole in the security so that they can steal the confidential data for their gain. This is precisely why handset manufacturers also invest in legitimate hacking of the devices in order to find loop holes that need fixing.
So as and when a loophole is found out, a security patch is released by the company as an individual upgrade or as a part for a bigger update file in order to safeguard users from such attacks.
For example, Android has been in the news for such security issues, but security upgrades for the Android devices have also been released from time to time to protect the users.
Hardware issues
Just like software, a smartphone's hardware is another component that sometimes malfunctions and it can be caused by the some error in the operating system or due to some upgrade that was released for the device recently.
For example, the hardware volume rocker or control key on the iPhone 4 stopped working after the operating system was upgraded. But, Apple promptly issued an upgrade to resolve the issue.
Although such issues are rare but there are possibilities as developers and device makers keep experimenting with various options for the benefit of users so there are always possibilities of such happenings.
Additional features
Software upgrades also bring in additional features to smartphones as well. For example, Nokia N8, after being upgraded to the Nokia Belle operating system, was also given the functionality to record HD 720p videos at 30 frames per second via a software upgrade release later on.
Similarly, Samsung Galaxy Note will also get a set of new and premium applications along with its Google Android ice Cream Sandwich upgrade in coming times.
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