Category: Android Nougat

After a horrendously long wait, the unlocked variant of the Samsung Galaxy S7 appears to be having its official Android Nougat update rolling out.  Android Authority is reporting that multiple users of Reddit have reported getting an OTA update to the Galaxy S7 with the Nougat update.  Samsung, to this point, has not confirmed if this is indeed the case.  The update comes a week after the update to the unlocked Galaxy S7 Edge received its update to Nougat and months after the carrier locked versions of the update hit devices.  Why the update to the unlocked variants too so long is unclear.

It is indicated that the update weighs in at just over 1Gb in size so you will want to make sure you download it over Wi-Fi.  The update will take about 10 minutes to install once you have it downloaded and will require a reboot.  Once you are back up and running, you will be running on Nougat.  If you need a rundown of what’s new in Nougat, check out my overview.

After several months of waiting, the unlocked LG G5 here in the United States is finally receiving its Android Nougat update.  The update comes months after many other unlocked variants in other countries received the update.  Canadian LG G5 users for example, received the update back in December.  Locked variants of the phone on AT&T received the update in February.

The update is a big one at over 1.3GB so Wi-Fi is a must to download it and you can expect the install time after the download to take about 10 minutes.

Over at Amazon you can still pick up the Nextbit Robin for $149.   I reviewed the Robin a few months ago and at the time I said it was a pretty good deal at $299.  At $149, it is one of the best deals on a phone with these specs out there right now, especially for a phone that runs Android Nougat.

For those that don’t recall, the Nextbit Robin has some great features and offers a unique device-meets-cloud storage solution.  It has 32GB of onboard storage merged with 100 GB online storage, so you always have the space you need. Robin seamlessly backs up your apps and photos, intelligently archives the stuff you’re not using, and easily restores items when you need them.  The idea is that you never run out of space.  Those less used apps are backed up into the cloud but then are instantly available when you want them.  You’ll know an app has been backed up into the cloud as it will be grey on your Robin.  You can read my review of the Robin to see all my thoughts on this great little phone.  I also think it is perhaps one of the most underrated phones of 2016.

Good news this morning for those of you who have the HTC One M9 on the Sprint network.  HTC has confirmed that the Android Nougat 7.0 update has been released by Sprint with updates starting today.  The updated build is 4.27.651.4 and weighs in at a hefty 2.25GB.  HTC is suggesting that the update will take about 20 minutes to complete and will reboot your One M9 several times during the process.  It is recommended that you have at least 35% remaining battery or, better, having your phone plugged in to AC (but don’t unplug it during the upgrade process) to upgrade.  Given the size of the update, Wi-Fi is the best option to download.

Once you have it downloaded to your phone and installed, you will have all of the benefits of Nougat including multi-window support, improved Doze and improved notification shade amongst many other refinements.  You can read my overview of Nougat 7.0 for more details.

Following up on the near doubling of the number of installed device, Android Nougat has once again made big gains this month according to the latest Android Distribution Report.  The report, published today, reflects the versions of Android that hit the Google Play Store between March 27-April 3 and it saw the latest build of the platform hit a 4.9% install base.  That is up 2.1% over the March report and, while still low, shows that Nougat is making steady inroads.  Many manufactures have released their Nougat updates for their devices so it is likely that this number will continue to increase at a reasonable clip over the course of the next several months.

Perhaps more telling, every other version of Android fell in install base when you compare the March and April reports.  Android Marshmallow saw a drop of .1% while Lollipop took the biggest hit with a drop of 2.5%.  Android KitKat fell by .8%, Jellybean by .5% and both Ice Cream Sandwich and Gingerbread fell by .1%.  The later to builds now sit at just .9% of the install base and this could well be the last time we see them on this report.

Good news for those of you who have the Galaxy Note 5 on Sprint.  Android Nougat is on its way to you.  The update has been released by the carrier, making them the first one to get the update out to the two year old and still most current Note in the Samsung lineup.  The update from Sprint contains the Nougat update for the device, the March security update, and other tweaks and performance improvements to the device.  The updated build is version N920PVPU3DQC5 for those keeping score and weighs in at a hefty 1.4GB.

With the update being this big, you will certainly want to download it to your Note 5 via Wi-Fi.  Once you have it downloaded, you can expect a 15-30 minute update process with a final reboot getting you squarely onto the Nougat release.