Current in Edinburgh on holiday. Phone stopped showing service, restarted the phone as this usually fixes the issue.
Phone restarted but lock screen started glitching. After a minute of the screen flashing on and off it forced its own restart. It started updating itself and completely wiped most of my data like a factory reset. All of my apps were logged out and wouldn't let me sign back in. Took forever to try and sort but eventually got logged back in and recovered.
Some apps are still funny. Google maps won't show me any routes or my location. The phone still drops service.
I have the same issue with my Samsung Galaxy S24. It went into a boot loop, after which it displayed a message saying the device has a serious software error and suggested checking for updates.
The January 2026 update had already been downloaded, and the phone indicated that no newer updates were available.
I took it back to the retailer. They tried a reset using the volume down + power button combination, but that didnโt help. The phone also claimed that there was no SIM card inserted. It was in a state where none of my installed apps were visible, which suggests it had reverted to factory settings or something close to that.
I then took it to an authorized service center. The customer before me had exactly the same issue with a Samsung Galaxy S21. He had also restarted his phone earlier today. His phone was showing the wrong time โ about four hours behind (around 7:44 when the actual time was approximately 11:30).
The technician told me that my phone was already the fourth device with the same issue brought into their location. They said they would most likely perform a full factory reset, as that is their standard repair procedure.
I suggested that they wait for a moment in case a new update is released, because this strongly looks like a software issue related to the January 2026 update that, for some reason, started causing problems today. My concern is that the phone may not be able to complete the full boot process properly and could remain stuck in a factory-reset state.
3 devices in 1 household same day. 12 hours apart.
S23 ultra: Bootlooped factory reset and UI got glitched. Had to flash it. Managed to recover data in a half glitched state before flashing.
S25 Ultra boot looped. reset. gallery and installed apps remained. All the files remained too. Everything else wiped. So account infos and app data gone. Even if the folders with the data were present.
Tab S9 got reset too same as S25.
My own s23 ultra is alright for now. But it shows one ui update icon and optimizing apps every time I restart. And restarts became much slower. But so far it's alive.
Also S23 and S25 showed:" Your device ran into a serious problem. Last update was on feb 6. Jan patch.
I had the same issue two days ago with my S25 Ultra. I spent three hours logging back into most of my apps and restoring everything, and Iโm still not finished. Iโm currently waiting for letters from several banks so I can regain access to my e-banking accounts.
I also noticed that I can no longer use the Health app as a widget. It crashes after about a minute and then disappears.
What is Samsung doing to address this issue? Iโm worried that it might happen again. Itโs very frustrating.
