The short answer is yes, install it, and particularly the small ones. The longer answer has a few sensible exceptions.
Why to install them
Most updates are not new features. They are security fixes for holes that are already public and already being used. A phone that is a year behind on security patches is meaningfully easier to attack, and that matters more if you use mobile money or bank apps on it.
App compatibility is the other reason. Apps drop support for old system versions, and eventually your bank app simply stops working.
When to wait
- A big yearly version jump, such as Android 15 to 16 or iOS 18 to 19, on the day it is released. Waiting two or three weeks lets other people find the problems. There is no prize for being first.
- When your phone is nearly full. A large update needs several gigabytes of free space to unpack, and an update that runs out of space part way through is exactly the situation you do not want.
- When you are travelling or about to need the phone. Update on a quiet evening, not an hour before you need to send something.
- On an old phone where people report the new version is slow. This is real. A major version aimed at newer hardware can make a four-year-old phone noticeably worse. Search for your exact model with the version number before committing.
Security patches, the small monthly ones, have none of these caveats. Install those.
Before you tap update
- Charge past 50 percent, or leave it plugged in.
- Be on Wi-Fi. A system update over a bundle is expensive; these are frequently over 1GB.
- Check free space. If it is tight, clear some first.
- Have a backup. Updates rarely lose data, but rarely is not never, and a phone that fails during an update can need a full reset.
Then leave it alone until it finishes. Do not restart it part way through because the screen has been dark for a while.
Where to find it
Android: Settings, System, System update, or on Samsung Settings, Software update, Download and install.
iPhone: Settings, General, Software Update.
When your phone stops getting updates
Every phone reaches an end. Budget Android phones often get two or three years of security updates; iPhones get considerably longer.
When the updates stop, the phone still works. What changes is the risk. If you use it for mobile money and banking, that is the point to start planning a replacement. If it is a spare handset for calls, it is fine for years yet.
Check Settings, About phone, Android version and look at the security patch date. If that date is more than a year old and no update is offered, your phone is no longer being supported.