Samsung Support Allegedly Throws Google Under the Bus Over One UI 7 Delays

If I knew how to pop my own popcorn, I would be having dishes of the stuff as I watch Samsung’s One UI 7 delay drama. We have a new update, allegedly from a Samsung employee, throwing the blame on Google.

A user reached out to Samsung customer care, asking when they should expect the One UI 7 update on the S24 series:

Hello.

Any idea when the stable One UI 7.0 update will begin rolling out to the Galaxy S24?

It was a straightforward question, and a Samsung support representative replied:

Thank-you for contacting Samsung Electronics. My sincere apologies on my side I am also waiting for the UI 7.0 (Android 15.0) update for my handset too so I understand your frustration. On our side UI and or Android is fully owned and developed by Google and not Samsung Electronics so in this case we would need to wait for them to release the updates for our models so saying that I would be able to give you a time frame but I can personally guarantee that your device will get the update.

This has gone viral, but I’m sure you can see that this is nuts. This does not sound like a reply one would get from a customer rep. It sounds more like a guy telling his brother-in-law not to worry.

So, either it’s a real Samsung customer rep who came into work hungover, or it’s fake. For Samsung and the alleged employee’s sake, I hope it’s the latter.

Why the claims don’t make sense

It’s accurate that Google develops the core Android operating system. Samsung’s One UI is a layer built on top of Android. Therefore, Samsung’s work is dependent on Google’s Android releases.

This means that delays in Google’s Android 15 release schedule can directly impact Samsung’s One UI 7 rollout. However, there were no Android 15 release delays. In fact, Samsung has had a relatively stable beta of One UI 7.0 out since 2024.

One UI is Samsung’s software, not Google’s.

Samsung does not “wait for Google” to release One UI updates—rather, they integrate Android updates into One UI, optimize it for their devices, and then roll it out.

While Android itself is developed by Google, One UI is Samsung’s custom skin, which they develop and release independently.

Then we get to the personal guarantees. The agent says they personally guarantee that the update will come. While, on the balance of things, there is a 99.99% chance that the S24 series will get the One UI 7.0 update, Samsung would never make guarantees.

There can be unforeseen circumstances that stop an update from being released. Also, a customer service agent does not have the authority to give guarantees. My dude took some liberties.

Then there is the part I loved the most. The agent says, “I am also waiting for the UI 7.0 (Android 15.0) update for my handset too, so I understand your frustration.”

This sounds more like what an E-creator agent would say: “I’m waiting to withdraw my own funds too. We’re in this together.” I don’t think that’s what Samsung customer reps are taught to say. The dude was apologizing in his personal capacity, as if he’s Sam Sung, instead of apologizing on behalf of Samsung.

Probably fake

The alleged interaction is probably fake but entertaining nonetheless. I guess the longer Samsung delays the update, the more we will see stuff like this.

Anyway, I’m laughing at all this as my phone runs the latest software version available to all phones from the manufacturer.

That said, it didn’t get everything the newer models got because in the past, the manufacturer talked about, “I’m great at optimizing, so I don’t need powerful hardware or even as much RAM as those other idiots.”

Then, a year later, they came up with an update they said needed more RAM than our phones could handle. So yeah, sometimes you’d rather get the update late than get a scaled-back one fast. So, chins up, Samsung fans.