Why we don’t release early firmware builds anymore

In the last few months, we’ve often seen complaints from our users about the fact that we do not make early firmware builds for devices available for download anymore. It’s a valid complaint, given how enticing the thought of trying out a new version of Android before it has been officially released can be, especially since manufacturers and carriers can take a lot of time to roll out major updates. Today, we’ve decided to let our readers to know the reasons why we don’t release the firmware builds that we review.

The first reason has to do with the fact that flashing firmware manually is not the simplest of tasks. There are many that are fully aware of how to flash firmware, but more than 10 percent of our reader base aren’t. Given we have almost 3.7 million members, that’s a lot of folks (370,000, if you’re being precise) that can take a wrong step somewhere and brick their devices – albeit temporarily – as a result. Going back to official firmware on Samsung devices isn’t the hardest thing to do, but even with fully detailed guides, there is always a chance that something will go wrong during the flashing process.

Then there’s the fact that these early builds are all too often not very stable – there can be bugs that hinder everyday usage, and like it was the case with the initial Lollipop build for the Galaxy S5, some functions might not work at all. Flashing such builds puts a device at risk, and given the amount of cash one can spend on devices (especially flagship devices), it makes us think twice before even entertaining the idea of making these firmware available for download.

The last, and perhaps biggest, reason is our responsibility of protecting our insiders. We are not affiliated with Samsung nor have any sort of deal with them, so we have to depend on our insiders to get hold of unreleased firmware. Getting caught isn’t a very attractive scenario for our sources, and if something does go wrong, it also means that we lose access to these sources, which in turn would make it impossible for us to share all the exclusive things we share, including the previews of upcoming versions of Android for various Samsung devices.

In the end, us not sharing firmware builds has little to do with us looking at increasing page views by teasing our readers with these previews (not that we mind getting as many page views as we can, as that is what allows us to make a living at SamMobile), and more to do with the fact that sharing these builds is associated with numerous risks, both for our readers, our insiders, and for our website.

Hopefully, our readers will understand why we choose not to release any early firmware. You can rest assured that we will keep coming up with previews of new versions of Android for your favorite Samsung devices; 2015 will see us making some big changes to our content, but giving our readers a look at what’s to come will continue to be a huge focus.