Tag: Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus

AT&T has released the Android Oreo update for the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ on their network, becoming the last major US carrier to do so.  Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint have all released the update, with Verizon being the first.

For those of you on AT&T, if you have the Galaxy S8, you are looking for build G950USQU2CRB9.  If you have a Galaxy S8+, build G955USQU2CRB9 is your jam.  In both cases, the updates come with the February Android Security Update patch and both updates come in at just over 1.5GB in size.  That means that downloading over WiFi is a must.

After being released for the Samsung Galaxy S8 on Verizon last week, the Android Oreo update is now rolling out to S8 and S8+ owners over at T-Mobile.  The updates bring the latest version of Android as well as the February Android Security Update patch to the 2017 flagship devices.

For those of you who have the Galaxy S8, you are looking for build G950USQU2CRB9 while those of you who have the S8+, you are getting build G955USQU2CRB9.  Both updates come in at just over 1.5GB in size so you will certainly want to download them via WiFi when you get the notification of it being available.  As of now, T-Mobile has not updated the support pages for the devices to reflect the new build release notes.

For readers who have their Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8 Plus in the company’s Android Oreo beta program, you have a second beta build coming your way.  The new beta is build R16NW.G955FXXU1ZQLE and is just over 600MB in size.  The updated beta has been released but it could take a few days before all beta testers see it on their phone.

This new build contains a significant number of bug fixes and performance improvements over the first beta and seemingly nothing on the device was left untouched.  The new beta addresses issues with Bluetooth connectivity, smart device connectivity, Bixby issues, profile issues… it goes on.  This update should also address general unresponsiveness of the device in all situations and uses.  It isn’t uncommon for manufactures to offer a lot of updates to things in their 2nd beta builds and this one certainly is no exception.

The release team at T-Mobile has been quite busy it would seem preparing updates for multiple Samsung Galaxy devices on their network.  Late yesterday the carrier released multiple updates for Galaxy devices, bringing overall improvements as well as the December Android Security Update patch to them.

The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are the first ones to get updated. The S7 will be receiving build G930TUVS4BQL2 while the S7 Edge will be getting build G935TUVS4BQL2.  For both devices, the OTA updates are less than 50MB and is primarily the December security patch although there could be some undocumented improvements brought to the devices.

It looks like owners of the latest Samsung Galaxy devices have a bit of a wait before they see the Android Oreo update.  The company’s Turkish site has posted that the testing of the new Oreo build has begun and that it will begin rolling out next year.

Our work on our pilot model for Android 8.0 (Oreo) has begun. We aim to present the new operating system to you at the beginning of the new year.

The problem, of course, is when exactly it will be in the new year but this all-but confirms that the update won’t hit in 2017.  Samsung has been very quiet about a timeline on when the update will roll out and this is the only confirmation that has been seen to this point.

If it is indeed 2018 before the Galaxy S8 phones and the Note8 see Oreo, it will once again make Samsung one of the last of the major OEMs to get the update out to their current devices.  Huawei, OnePlus, LG, Sony, HTC and Moto have all confirmed that at least some of their devices will get the update prior to the end of the year.

Samsung has finally started allowing the Bixby button on the S8 lineup and the new Note8 to be disabled… well, partially at least.  Bixby is Samsung’s assistant built into these phones and one of the biggest complaints about the Galaxy S8 lineup when it was released this summer was the fact that the dedicated hardware button for the assistant could not be disabled or remapped (to say Google Assistant).  Samsung stood by their decision and despite numerous hacks to get around this (which Samsung subsequently closed with software updates), pretty much forced the issue with users.  Until this past weekend.

A small software update for the Galaxy S8, S8 Plus and Note8 is allowing the button to be partially disabled.  In the Bixby settings, you can disable to button although it will still fire up if you long press the button.  The software update does not allow for remapping of the button.