Samsung: Galaxy cell phones paralyzed after software update

A Samsung software update is reportedly making Galaxy phones unusable. Older smartphones in particular are likely to be affected.

A Samsung update has crippled numerous Galaxy smartphones. This is what users report in a forum entry on the social media service Reddit. Apparently an update to the popular SmartThings framework app repeatedly forced the devices to restart, meaning they could no longer be used.

According to user reports, smartphones from the Galaxy S10 and Note 10 series are predominantly affected. One post states that the Galaxy M51 and A90 are also affected. The cell phones are older smartphones from 2019 and 2020.

A message from Samsung says the problem affects devices with the operating system version Android 12. The corresponding update to the SmartThings app has been bypassed and replaced with a new one in which the error does not occur, it is said.

SmartThings is the Samsung app for controlling smart home devices. This can be used to control intelligent lamps and thermostats, among other things. The application was known as Samsung Connect before its rebrand.

According to the IT magazine “heise online”, anyone affected by the problem only has one option: resetting the device to the factory settings. Users could then download the current version of the SmartThings app. However, this process “could lead to the loss of unsecured data,” it says.

It is possible that Samsung will offer a solution in the coming days without users having to reset their cell phones to factory settings, the magazine continues. That may protect users from data loss.