Every year a new version of Android comes out . For most people, this pace of updates is too frantic for a simple reason: unless you change your phone every year, chances are that your version of Android will be outdated in a few months.
If you have a mid-high range mobile you can last a couple more years receiving updates from the manufacturer, but don’t get your hopes up either: manufacturers rarely update a mobile to two or three later versions of Android.
Android version is not that important (in most cases)
Let’s not exaggerate things either. The version of Android can serve as a guide to know if our mobile has the latest features and security patches , but at the operational level there is not much difference on a day-to-day basis.
Most apps and games are compatible with Android versions 4 and later . Keep in mind that Android 4 was released in 2008, so unless your phone is more than 14 years old, the Android version most likely won’t cause any issues when installing apps.
How to check the Android version of my device
To see the version of Android that is installed on a mobile or tablet, follow these steps:
- Open the “ Settings” menu of the device.
- Go into “ Phone Information”. Note: On some devices this section may be identified as “ Information ” or “ About phone ”.
- In the “ Device details” section, look at the “ Android version ” section to check the version of the operating system of your terminal.
Got it!
Some phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy, have their own interface, and to find the Android version we will have to go to “Settings -> About phone” and click on “Software information” to see what version of Android they have installed.
SmartTV
In the case of another series of devices such as televisions with Android TV , the process is very similar.
- Go to the TV’s “ Settings” menu (represented by a gear icon).
- Go to “ Device Preferences -> Information”.
- Check the Android version by reviewing the data that appears in the “ Version” field.
How can I update Android to a higher version?
If you have an old version of Android and want to check if there is an update available for your device, follow these steps:
- Enter the “Settings” menu of the phone.
- Go to “ System -> System Update”.
- Here you will see a message informing you of the update status of the device. You can check if there is any new update available by clicking on the “ Check for updates” button.
Download updates and security patches
Lastly, you can also see if there are any security updates available for the system. Normally these types of patches are downloaded and installed automatically, but it never hurts to check.
- Open the Android “ Settings” menu.
- Go to “ Security”.
- Click on “ Security update” to see if there are any pending security patches.
- Lastly, tap on “ Google Play System Update” to check for any new update available for Google Play.
Remember that a large part of the security and antivirus service of your Android device falls on Play Protect , a function integrated within Google Play. For this reason, it is important that Google Play is also updated to the latest version.
Finally, keep in mind that if you want to go the other way, that is, go back to a previous version of Android , it can also be done. Of course, in this case we would talk about a much more complex and advanced process. Take a look at THIS TUTORIAL to see how it works in detail.
