This is a big nothingburger. Yes, the wipe cache partition option was removed with the February security patch. This is in line with other Android OEMs who have also removed that option from recovery. Seamless updates with A/B partitions make manually clearing the cache partition after a system update moot.
Ok BUT for those of us stuck on an older device (S22 Ultra here), do we get the joy is seamless updates and a/b partitions as well? Or are we going to get the short end and have to deal with neutered systems?
That's a great question. It's my understanding that phones with regular partitions can be converted to use A/B partitions with a software update. Perhaps this is what Samsung has been planning with the February security patch (unlikely), or maybe the One UI 8.5 update (much more likely). I don't know. There may be a little "putting the cart before the horse" going on.
I have to say that to me, the need to manually clear something called a cache partition by the majority of users is something way above their heads and it's past time for Samsung to come up with a better option for their customers, 99% of which have no technical skills whatsoever!
This isn't Samsung coming up with a better option. This is Samsung finally catching up to all the other OEMs who have been utilizing A/B partitions for years (seamless updates were introduced in 2016). They've been sitting on this and needlessly forcing users to wait while their devices updated and "optimized."
