Solved: February 2024 "Security" update Causes Catastrophi... - Samsung Community

KindlyThrive · ‎03-02-2024

After the February update last night, my phone has become nearly unusable. No videos play, freezing in Duolingo, slowed performance, and glitchiness throughout. Can't use Facebook or Instagram due to the video issue—videos are frozen and won't play. Additionally, the phone is overheating, very hot to touch. This phone has been cool since I got it two weeks ago. Really upset. Hoping the March 2nd update will fix it. I have the 1TB unlocked version directly from Samsung.

3rd Update: 3/4/24 12pm:
The phone is nearly unusable post-March update. On the first day, it consumed nearly 60% of the battery while idle on my kitchen counter unplugged. The next day, with 1:30 of active screen use, it used 124% battery, reaching temperatures of 40-45 degrees Celsius. Videos on social media platforms and Talk-to-Text randomly fail. These issues, along with others, started after the March 2nd update. Restarting temporarily resolves the video and Talk-to-Text problems, but I need to restart the phone 5-7 times a day to keep it functional. Before the update, the phone worked flawlessly. I am hoping someone else has a solution. I don't think there is something wrong with phone but the software.

2nd update 2:30pm :I spoke too soon. Video has stopped working on Instagram and Facebook again. I have restarted 3 more times in hopes it would resolve it. Everything worked flawlessly as of last night before the february security update.

One other issue, power drain. My cell phone is plugged in and it cannot fully charge if the screen is on. IT has been stuck at 74% for a while now. Now at 73% after about 15 minutes of showing 74%. If things were working correctly, it should be charging at 1% or faster per minute, and that is not happening. It is just stuck saying 7 minutes until full. I have the advanced battery support turned on so it only charges to 80% max, but now it wont even do that. Currently it has no major apps running, it is just sitting next to me. The screen is very warm.

1st Update, 11am : Phone has restarted after March 2 update and now videos will play again. That was very unsettling and I wonder how many people returned their phones because of the glitch with the February update. I am glad I only had to deal with it for a few hours.

KindlyThrive · ‎03-10-2024

I conducted thorough testing before addressing this community issue. On Wednesday, I experienced the worst battery life post the March 2nd update, causing immense frustration. To troubleshoot, I began uninstalling apps, starting with three:

1. Samsung Health
2. Synology Drive
3. Synology Photos

While Health and Drive had been on my phone for years, Photos was a newer addition predating the Feb/March update.

Initially, removing these apps didn't yield any improvement. With my phone's battery dwindling to 9% and refusing to charge, the processor worked intensively despite no active apps. The battery temperature soared above 42 degrees, as depicted in the image.

As my phone was on the brink of dying, I powered it down to allow for some charging. Due to the elevated temperature, the charging process was sluggish even in the powered-off state.

Upon restarting, a magical transformation occurred—the phone began to cool down and charge efficiently.

From Thursday until today, my phone has exhibited better performance than ever before. Discovering that one of the three apps ran in the background and drained the battery was a turning point. While suspecting Samsung Health, I can't be certain. I reinstalled Synology Photos, which operates flawlessly with no battery drain. It's configured to function only during charging and on WIFI. Samsung Health and Synology Drive remain uninstalled. Despite my fondness for Samsung Health over the past 4+ years, I'm exploring alternatives to retrieve my historical data. Nevertheless, having a functional phone takes precedence.

My phone now lasts 14 hours with constant use, even during activities like having Pokémon running in the background and engaging in a 4-hour conversation, resulting in a mere 10% battery drop per hour. When idle, the battery consumption is minimal, demonstrating improved efficiency.

Therefore, the issue is resolved—a conflict with one of those two apps after the Feb/March security updates.

I submitted my Note 20 Ultra for trade-in yesterday evening, feeling reassured about my phone's current stability. I have no intention of performing any more updates for an extended period. While this experience has left a bitter taste, I am relieved to have a functional phone. 🙂

Additionally, I identified the cause of the charging issues. If the battery exceeds 37 degrees, it struggles to charge rapidly. When it surpassed 40 degrees, it faced significant challenges due to an unstoppable background process. The processors were running at full capacity all day. Another factor was the Otterbox Defender Case I use for optimal phone protection. Despite its advantages, it acts as an insulator. Removing the outer case when the phone's temperature exceeded 40 degrees resulted in a gradual temperature drop of about 0.1 degrees every 20-30 seconds. The combined issue of the case and application conflict became apparent. If not for the case, the charging problem might have gone unnoticed. My solution has been to remove the outer case when gaming, allowing the phone to cool rapidly. Contrary to online claims, these cases can cause overheating issues. Without the case, the phone remains cool and charges swiftly.

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I sincerely hope these suggestions prove beneficial to others grappling with this immensely frustrating issue. It's my wish that Samsung addresses their software to provide insight into which apps are overloading the CPU and causing such disruptive problems. While I recognize the challenge of accounting for every software variation, the fact that the overloading app managed to elude the task manager-like software displaying battery usage exacerbates the problem. Fortunately, my fortunate guess among the 200+ apps on my phone averted sending it back. There was nothing inherently wrong with the phone, just an unforeseen glitch or conflict among these three apps. Now, I contemplate whether the battery issues on my recently returned Note 20 Ultra were influenced by the Samsung Health app. A notable clue surfaced when my S24 Ultra displayed a persistent notification from Samsung Health, asserting its continuous activity tracking despite my efforts to disable every related feature in the settings. I share these insights with the hope that others won't be plagued by this problem, and that these tips may offer some assistance.

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KindlyThrive · ‎03-02-2024

Phone has restarted after March 2 update and now videos will play again. That was very unsettling and I wonder how many people returned their phones because of the glitch with the February update. I am glad I only had to deal with it for a few hours.

DarthVader99 · ‎03-02-2024

No issues with my phone after both updates sounds like you may have a bad device

BlackPuck · ‎03-02-2024

Haven't had this issue at all maybe something got corrupted during your update. The latest update happend to fix those problems.

realaud · ‎03-02-2024

Here's a tip. Whenever an update gets installed on my phone, sfter the initial reboot, I unlock my phone snd wait for sll the updates to finish (just because the phone reboited, doesn't mean the install is completed), then I reboot again, just to make sure everyrhing is done.

A lot of people are impatient to start using their phone immediately after the update, that things may still be installing ehile you are trying to use it.

KindlyThrive · ‎03-02-2024

Yes, I restarted a 2nd time without any success. I run a small tech firm and troubleshoot tech issues full time. This was not an easy fix but the fixed update resolved the issues.

realaud · ‎03-02-2024

That's the thing, none of us knows what kind of experience someone has when they ask for help, so we give advice based on our own experiences.

KindlyThrive · ‎03-02-2024

I spoke too soon. Video has stopped working on Instagram and Facebook again. I have restarted 3 more times in hopes it would resolve it. Everything worked flawlessly as of last night before the february security update.

One other issue, power drain. My cell phone is plugged in and it cannot fully charge if the screen is on. IT has been stuck at 74% for a while now. Now at 73% after about 15 minutes of showing 74%. If things were working correctly, it should be charging at 1% or faster per minute, and that is not happening. It is just stuck saying 7 minutes until full. I have the advanced battery support turned on so it only charges to 80% max, but now it wont even do that. Currently it has no major apps running, it is just sitting next to me. The screen is very warm.

Faith7777 · ‎03-04-2024

Any updated? Is your phone working correctly now? Your update shows a lot of problems after you update?

KindlyThrive · ‎03-04-2024

My phone is facing a catastrophic failure. Yesterday, it consumed 124% of the battery, with minimal screen use. A 3-hour call drained it from 78% to 25%, and it overheats persistently. This issue mirrors my previous Note 20 Ultra troubles, prompting my upgrade. Despite being a power user, my usage in the last couple of days has been minimal. The battery performance is now twice as poor as my Note 20 Ultra, barely lasting 3 hours with usage.

At this moment I have been on my phone for 15 minutes and the battery has drained 4% while still being on the charger. It says it's charging but it doesn't seem to be charging nearly enough. The battery temperature is currently almost 41° c. I have seen it hit 45° C a couple of times and often is around 43° c. When unplugged the battery is around 39° C. I do use a pretty hefty phone case for protection, just like I did on my old phone but the processor running all the time is the culprit, not a bad battery. In one of the screenshots I shared you can see that while there are no active apps, all of the processors are about half speed.

I have added a screenshot for a pretty normal day before where I was able to get a full day of use and the battery never went all the way down.

Original topic:

February 2024 "Security" update Causes Catastrophic issues + March Update did not fix.

Original topic:

February 2024 "Security" update Causes Catastrophic issues + March Update did not fix.

1 Solution