Two things happened in Samsung's update schedule this week, and they matter to different owners. The October 2026 security bulletin went up on October 6, and it reaches recent flagships first. The same day, Samsung's update roadmap changed: the Galaxy A04s and Galaxy A23 5G are no longer on it, according to Sammy Fans' read of the roadmap. If you own a recent Galaxy, the patch is routine. If you own one of those two A phones, it is the more important news.
What the October bulletin contains
Samsung's security update page lists the release as SMR-OCT-2026 and describes it as a monthly maintenance release for major flagship models. It applies 45 Google patches (9 critical, 33 high, 3 moderate) and four high-severity fixes from Samsung Semiconductor. The page says Samsung's own fixes number 27, but only 13 of them are itemized (6 high, 7 moderate), and the page does not explain the gap. Android Headlines, which covered the bulletin, names the Galaxy S26 line, the Z Fold8, the Z Fold8 Ultra and the Z Flip8 as the first phones to get it, and describes it as security fixes only, with no new features.
The version to look for is "SMR Oct-2026 Release 1", per Android Headlines, under the Security software version entry in Settings. Samsung moves that entry between One UI versions, so searching Settings for "security software version" is quicker than following a menu path.
Samsung's page adds the usual caveats: timing varies by region and model, an OS upgrade can delay a planned security update, and some chipset patches arrive in later packages. A phone that shows the previous month today has not necessarily been skipped.
Which phones are on which schedule
Samsung splits its phones into tiers. Per the same Sammy Fans report on the roadmap, flagships such as the S26 line, the Z Fold8, the Z Flip8 and the Z TriFold are on the monthly tier, and Samsung keeps them there for up to six years, with the final year on quarterly. Non-flagship phones and tablets are on the quarterly tier, along with older flagships such as the Galaxy S22 series and Z Fold4. I could not find the roadmap on Samsung's own site, so the tier details here rest on that report.
For a quarterly phone, a month without a patch is the schedule working as designed. That is a different thing from being off the list.
The two phones that left the roadmap
The October roadmap removed the Galaxy A04s and the Galaxy A23 5G, both 2022 models, and added the Galaxy A07s, A08 and A18 to the quarterly tier. Sammy Fans says the two removed phones have likely reached the end of their update lifecycle, and notes that the schedule itself gives no reason. That is an inference from the outlet, not a Samsung statement, and Samsung has not announced an end date for either phone that I could find.
What follows if it is an end of support: the phone keeps working, calls and apps run as before, and what stops is the security patch. Flaws found after the last patch stay open, and that exposure grows with time rather than on a date. It weighs most on a phone you use for banking or payments, and least on a spare or a child's phone with limited use.
Whether banking apps keep running on an Android version that no longer gets patches is decided app by app, and nobody has published a list. If you own an A04s or A23 5G, look at the security patch level your phone shows today. If it is more than a few months old, the roadmap change probably confirms what you were already seeing.
If you have a recent Galaxy
For an S26, a Z Fold8 or a Z Flip8, the October patch changes nothing you will see. Install it when it arrives. A phone on the S25 line is a separate question, since One UI 9 only just reached US S25 phones and the patch cadence follows the model's tier. For which Galaxy gets the big update and when, the One UI 9 eligibility piece is the reference.
What is still unknown
Samsung has not said why the two phones were removed, whether a final patch is coming for either, or how the roadmap gets updated from here. The bulletin does not list specific models, so which phone gets which fix is not something the page answers. The Pixel 6 is in a comparable spot this month, and that piece covers what to weigh when a phone approaches its last patch.
If your phone is on the edge of its support window, the questions are the same whatever the brand: what you keep on it, and how long you can wait. The Pixel 6 piece works through that triage, and the One UI 9 eligibility piece covers the other half, the big updates.
Last updated October 9, 2026