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Question from Betty: I read an article suggesting that everyone needs to keep the software on their smartphones up to date.
It also said to be careful not to ‘brick your phone’ while you’re updating it. Can you tell me what they mean by that? Thanks.
Rick’s answer: Betty, virtually all modern electronic devices have computer chips inside that make the devices do whatever it is that they were designed to do.
And just like a regular computer, the CPU in those devices must have some computer code to execute in order to complete those tasks.
This body of code is called “firmware”, and it’s stored in non-volatile flash memory chips. From time to time updates to that firmware code are released in order to add new features and/or fix bugs in the code.
The process of updating the firmware on a device basically replaces the existing code with a new (and hopefully better) version. The problem is, if something goes wrong during the firmware update your phone can become completely unresponsive – or about as useful as brick.
For example, if the device’s battery dies in the middle of the update process the device will only have a portion of the firmware code it needs in order to operate correctly.
In a nutshell, the term ‘bricking’ your phone (or your tablet, or your PC…) essentially means it won’t work anymore.
A bricked device can usually be fixed, but you’ll need to send it back to the manufacturer or to an authorized repair center, and the service is not always covered under the phone’s warranty.
And by the way, ANY device that includes firmware (or in the case of computers, an operating system) can be “bricked” by installing a buggy update or some other digital misfortune.
That’s why it’s important to take extreme care when updating your devices. I recommend always installing updates when the device’s battery is fully charged. Even better, keep the machine plugged into a charger while it’s updating.