Free tool
Is my phone still getting security updates?
Pick your phone. Google publishes a support window, so you get an end date and the months left. Samsung publishes what it is patching right now, so you get that and how often. Apple publishes neither, so you get a straight answer about what it does publish rather than a date somebody guessed. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
What each maker actually publishes
These three are not the same kind of thing, and most comparisons flatten them into one column of years. One is a promise you can hold a company to. One is a live list of what is actually being patched this month. One is a track record. Only the first can produce a date, which is why only one of the three gets one here.
Google publishes a countable commitment and names the models it covers. Pixel 8 and later get seven years; the Pixel 6 and 7 generations and the original Pixel Fold get five; the Pixel 5a and earlier are listed as no longer receiving updates at all. The clock starts when the device first went on sale on the Google Store in the US, and Google publishes those dates too — which is what makes an exact end date possible here and impossible for Apple.
“Pixel 8 and later phones will get updates for 7 years starting from when the device first became available on the Google Store in the US”
Google's own page · verified 2026-08-12
Samsung
Live patching listSamsung publishes the list of devices it is currently issuing security updates for, and how often — monthly for current flagships and foldables, quarterly for older and mid-range models. A phone drops from monthly to quarterly as it ages and off the list entirely when support ends, so the list is a live status rather than a promise. Samsung separately says it is extending support to up to seven years for Galaxy devices from January 2024. It also warns that timing varies by market and carrier, so a promise alone would not have told you what your handset gets.
“As of January 2024, we are extending our security update support for Samsung Galaxy devices by up to 7 years”
Samsung's own page · verified 2026-08-12
OnePlus
Published promiseOnePlus publishes a minimum rather than a window: at least three years of security updates from product launch for smartphones and tablets. Individual models can and do get longer, and OnePlus publishes a per-model end date table, but the floor it commits to is three years. Set against Google's seven for a Pixel, that is the single largest gap between two makers whose phones sit in the same price bracket.
“For the Smartphones and Tablets, we pledge to provide security updates for a minimum of three (3) years”
OnePlus's own page · verified 2026-08-12
Apple
Observed record onlyApple makes no support commitment at all. It publishes which models run the current iOS and nothing about how long a device will keep receiving updates. Its record is long — recent iPhones have received major updates for roughly six to eight years — but that is an observation about the past, not a promise about your phone. Anyone quoting you a confident Apple end-date is inferring it.
“Apple's iOS compatibility page lists supported models and makes no statement about how long any device will be supported.”
Apple's own page · verified 2026-08-12
Why we won't give you an Apple end date
Search for how long an iPhone is supported and you will find confident numbers. None of them come from Apple, because Apple has never published one. What those pages have done is measure how long previous iPhones lasted before Apple dropped them, average it, and present the average as your phone's expiry date. That is a reasonable guess about the past dressed up as a fact about your device.
So this tool answers a narrower question for Apple, and answers it exactly: what has Apple actually shipped to your model, and when? That is checkable, sourced and true. When iOS 26is superseded we update the list from Apple's page rather than from the speculation that circulates for months beforehand.
It also cuts the other way, and this part is usually missed. Dropping off the newest iOS is not the end of security updates. Apple keeps security-only branches running for older releases and patches them alongside the current one: on 11 May 2026 it shipped iOS 26.6 to current models and, the same day, iOS 18.7.9 to the iPhone XS and XR, iOS 16.7.16 to the iPhone 8 and X, and iOS 15.8.8 to the iPhone 6s, iPhone 7 and first-generation SE. An iPhone that went on sale in 2015 got a security update in May 2026. Telling its owner the phone was unsupported would have been wrong, and wrong in the frightening direction.
If your window is closing
An unsupported phone is not an emergency, but it is a deadline you should know the date of. The useful move is to plan the replacement before the last patch rather than after, and to weigh the remaining support window when you buy — a discounted last-generation flagship is cheaper because someone already spent a year of its updates. Our smartphone guide lists what each current model commits to.
Frequently asked
Does an iPhone stop getting security updates when it drops off the newest iOS?
No, and this is where most write-ups are wrong. Apple maintains security-only branches for older iOS releases and patches them alongside the current one. In its 11 May 2026 batch, Apple shipped iOS 18.7.9 to the iPhone XS and XR, iOS 16.7.16 to the iPhone 8 and X, and iOS 15.8.8 to the iPhone 6s, iPhone 7 and first-generation SE, on the same day as iOS 26.6 for current models. What ends when your model leaves the compatibility list is new iOS versions and new features, not patching. Apple publishes no end date for the legacy branches either, so nobody can tell you how long yours will continue.
How do I know if my phone is still getting security updates?
Pick your model above. The kind of answer you get depends on what your maker publishes, and there are three kinds. For a Pixel it is arithmetic: Google publishes both the support window and the on-sale date, so the end date and the months remaining are computable. For a Galaxy it is a live status: Samsung publishes which devices it is patching right now and how often. For an iPhone it is a record of what Apple has actually shipped, either on the current iOS or on one of the security-only branches it still maintains for older releases. You can confirm on the phone itself under Settings, Security and privacy, System and security update on Android, or Settings, General, Software Update on iOS.
How many years of updates does a Google Pixel get?
It depends which Pixel, and this is where most answers go wrong. Google commits to seven years for the Pixel 8 and later, including the budget a-series, covering OS upgrades, security patches and feature drops. The Pixel 6 and 7 generations and the original Pixel Fold get five years, not seven. The Pixel 5a and earlier are listed by Google as no longer receiving updates at all. The clock runs from the date the model went on sale on the Google Store in the US, which Google also publishes, so an exact end date is arithmetic rather than an estimate.
Is my Samsung Galaxy still getting security updates?
Samsung answers this directly, which no other maker does: it publishes the list of devices it is patching right now, split into monthly and quarterly. Current flagships and foldables sit on the monthly list; older flagships and most of the A, M and F series sit on the quarterly one. A phone moves from monthly to quarterly as it ages and then off the list entirely, so the tier itself is an early warning. Samsung separately says it is extending support to up to seven years for Galaxy devices from January 2024, and notes that timing varies by market and carrier.
What does it mean if my Galaxy is on quarterly updates instead of monthly?
It is still supported, but on the slower tier. Samsung starts a phone on monthly patches and moves it to quarterly as it ages, before support ends altogether — so quarterly is roughly the second half of a device's supported life. The practical effect is that a newly-disclosed flaw may sit unpatched on your phone for up to three months rather than up to one.
How long does an iPhone get security updates?
There is no published answer, and that is the honest one. Apple makes no support commitment: it publishes which models run the current release, iOS 26, and says nothing about how long any device will keep receiving updates. Any page quoting you a confident Apple end-date has inferred it. What is genuinely checkable is longer than most people assume, because dropping off the newest iOS is not the end of security updates. Apple keeps security-only branches running for older releases, and on 11 May 2026 it patched four at once: iOS 26.6 for current models, iOS 18.7.9 for the iPhone XS and XR, iOS 16.7.16 for the iPhone 8 and X, and iOS 15.8.8 for the iPhone 6s, iPhone 7 and first-generation SE. An iPhone 6s that went on sale in 2015 received a security update in May 2026.
What happens when my phone stops getting security updates?
The phone keeps working. What stops is the patching of newly discovered flaws, so risk accumulates rather than arriving all at once — every vulnerability found after your last patch stays open on your device permanently. The practical exposure is highest for anything handling money or identity: banking apps, email, password managers, two-factor codes. Some banking apps also begin refusing to run on unsupported OS versions, which is often what forces the upgrade in the end.
Does the support clock start when I bought the phone?
No — it starts at the device's release date. This is the single most common misunderstanding, and it matters most for budget phones bought late in their run: a model that launched three years ago has three years already spent, however new the handset in the box is. It is also why buying last year's flagship at a discount costs you a year of updates.
Where does this information come from?
Three manufacturer pages, linked beside every answer and re-checked on a schedule: Google's Pixel update policy and its device availability table, Samsung's security update scope page, and Apple's iOS compatibility page. Nothing here is taken from another site's roundup or from a spec aggregator. Where a manufacturer publishes no commitment we return no date rather than estimating one, which is why an iPhone gives a status and a Pixel gives a countdown.