Category: Android Oreo

As expected, the July 2018 Android Security Update patches were released this morning by Google.  As a general rule, the Mountain View company releases the monthly updates on the first Monday of the first full week of each month.

This month’s update consists of two patches, one dated July 1, 2018 while the second is dated July 5, 2018.  The first patch consists of 11 patches, 3 of which are considered critical updates.  This July 1st patch is generally aimed at Android as a platform itself while the second patch is more device specific drivers and fixes.

T-Mobile has become the last US carrier to release the Android Oreo update for the LG G6.  Build H87220a rolled out to a small group of users last week but has now begun rolling out broadly to T-Mobile customers with the 2017 flagship phone.

To check for the update, go to Settings>About Phone>Update Center>System Update and check for the update there.  Keep in mind that it is still rolling out so it could well take another day or two before it lands on your phone.

T-Mobile, who generally is one of the first to release software updates, has taken their time on this one.  AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon have all released the update, in some cases nearly two months ago, so it is unclear why it took T-Mobile so long.

Good news this morning for those of you who have the Samsung Galaxy S7 Active on the AT&T network.  Your Android Oreo 8.0 update is now starting to roll out.  The update, according to AT&T, is build R16NW.G891AUCU3CRE7 and it is about 1.5GB in size.   The update brings the April Android Security Update and is version 8.0 of Oreo, not the more current 8.1.

Fundamentally, the update is the same that has been rolling out on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint for the normal Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge which brings all the Oreo updates along with the new Samsung Experience 9 user experience.

Following the release of Android Oreo on AT&T and Verizon, Sprint has now begun rolling out the update to the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge on their network.  The updated build is R16NW.G93xPVPU6CRE7 and it comes in at a 1.7GB on the download.  The update has been released by Sprint so you should see it at any point if not already.

Essentially, the update is the same that was pushed out to AT&T and Verizon customers.  It brings the April Android Security Update Patch and all of the goodness that comes with Android Oreo.  It also brings the new Samsung Experience 9 user interface and experience to the 2016 flagship.

Huawei has announced this morning that the company’s MediaPad M5 lineup is now available in the United States.  Coming in both an 8.4″ and 10.8″ with 2D curved glass – a first for tablets, the Huawei MediaPad M5 brings a powerful Android tablet experience that really no other manufacture can match these days.  Both tablet sizes are powered by the Kirin 960 SoC built by Huawei, 64GB of storage and 4GB of RAM.

The MediaPad M5 lineup will be available from Huawei’s Amazon storefront.  The 8.4″ model is $319.99 while the 10.8″ model is $359.99.  Both models are currently in stock.

Let’s see if this one sticks, shall we?  Last week, Verizon began rolling out the Android Oreo update for the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge on their network.  Then they pulled it.  Then they released it again.  Then they pulled it again, apparently for good for the moment.  That cause a lot of confusion and got me a nice “FAKE NEWS” comment on the article.

Sigh.

Okay, so now A&T seems to be giving it a go and has released the update for the S7 lineup on their network.  Multiple sources are pointing to screenshots of the update rolling out which comes in at about 1.7GB.  But, to this point, AT&T has not updated the support pages for either device.