How to Fix Failed Phone Updates

April 29, 2017 / by Joji Samuel
How to Fix Failed Phone Updates

Youʼve been waiting for that phone update for months. Every day, you scout the internet for new articles detailing every specific feature the update contains and all the wonderful things you’ll be able to do. Bigger text bubbles. More special effects. More reliable WiFi. More data control. More photo filters. New and improved apps. You must get your hands on the new update ASAP.

And then your lucky friends receive the BETA version and tell you all about it. All those cute new emojis are still a foreign concept. You feel left out. Then, finally, after weeks of waiting, the update arrives.

You go to your smartphone’s settings < About < System Update… Hit refresh. And there it is – your new, shiny software update loading slowly.  

Then something happens. The update fails. You try again. But your phone got stuck in a loop, and now it wonʼt boot. Or it just wonʼt install. Somethingʼs amiss. All your friends have the new emojis and are sharing the joy on Twitter, and youʼre alone in the dark.face with rolling eyes

What can you do?

● Donʼt update your phone immediately

In the first few hours (and a couple of days) of a rolled-out phone update, countless issues will arise. While companies like Samsung and Apple will do their best to test the updates before rolling them out, it is inevitable that bugs, crashes, and problems will arise in the first few days of an update. These will be patched and fixed quickly since they are critical, so wait a few days to make sure that there are either no problems or that these problems have been resolved before initiating an update.

● Always backup your phone

It may seem like common sense, but many people do not back up their phones. Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and others all have backup solutions, either on your physical computer or through the cloud. Always make sure your phone is backed up just in case something goes wrong.

● Charge your phone

We cannot stress this enough: make sure your phone is charged before updating. Usually, the phone will prevent you from updating if it is less than 50% charged, but make sure itʼs charged at 70% or higher, or that it is plugged into a charger before updating. The last thing you want is for your phone to die halfway through the process.

● Donʼt always update over the air

Many of our phone software updates are now provided over the air (i.e. not connected to Itunes via laptop). It makes it easy, convenient, and practical, but sometimes these kinds of updates can wreak havoc on your phone. Try to keep over-the-air updates to small (i.e. added updates like 9.1), incremental ones (i.e. IOS 11), but it is best to use the software provided by the vendor to handle major updates to minimise risk.

● Put your phone in recovery mode and update again

Different phone manufacturers have different methods of putting your phone in “recovery mode”, but oftentimes your phone will automatically go to recovery mode in case of a failed update. In that case, you will need to plug in your phone to your computer and use the companion software to handle the recovery and upgrade. Itʼs likely that you will lose your data in this process, which is why we always recommend you to backup before initiating an update.

● Contact Geeks

If you require Geeks’ assistance, please click here or call us directly at 8007475.