The Galaxy S8, S8+ and Note 8 started receiving their Android Pie in February this year, shortly after their successor's rollout was complete. The global unlocked variants of the devices were the first to receive the update, and as usual, carrier-locked variants in the US took much longer. The update started rolling out to Sprint variants of the Galaxy S8/S8+ and Note 8 last week and today its the AT&T and T-Mobile variants are receiving it. The update for the Galaxy S8 series is available on both networks, while the Note 8 update is currently out only for the AT&T variant.
The OTA update weighs around 1.5 GB and includes the March security patch along with the usual Android Pie and OneUI goodies. Not all users might be able to download the update just yet, as it is usually rolled out in batches. To check if you're at the receiving end of one, go to Settings, click on Software Update, and tap the Download updates manually option.
Galaxy S7 downgraded to quarterly security updates
The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge will now receive a security patch every three months. Both devices were receiving monthly security updates up to this point, and today, Samsung has now shifted them to the quarterly schedule. It was only a matter of time before this would happen. As the company keeps releasing newer devices, older ones get pushed to the sidelines.
It's not a bad thing, all things considered. A lot of OEMs drop software support for their devices two years after release and Samsung must be commended for still caring about the nearly three-year-old flagship. Even a few other non-flagship devices are in the quarterly list, which is nice. Now, if only Samsung tried to push out three major software upgrades to all devices. One step at a time, I guess.
