In mid-December 2017, it emerged that Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ won’t be receiving updates to Android Oreo in January 2018 as previously anticipated. But earlier this month, another report emerged suggesting that, in fact, the OS could be ready for release this month.
According to the report, which came courtesy of Reddit, it was alleged that the Galaxy Beta Program for Android Oreo will be closed on January 15th, which is just a few days away. We all know what this means, right?
Even though there was no mention of specific dates as to when the stable Android Oreo will start hitting the Galaxy S8 and S8+, the fact that the beta program is to come to an end mid this month is enough to confirm that Oreo may start rolling out on the same date or immediately after.
Up to now, most people taking part in the Galaxy Beta Program have already received at least five beta builds of Android Oreo on their Galaxy S8 and S8+ handsets. However, not all markets were admitted to the beta program at the same time. The beta testing started in the U.S. and later on spread to other markets across the globe, including India. Apparently, the latest beta update is rolling out to the Indian variant, SamMobile reports.
The update comes with software version ZRA5 and as you would expect, it brings a series of bug fixes, performance improvements and system stability. In addition, Samsung has also included this month’s Android security patch, which we’ve so far seen on the Galaxy A5 2017 and Galaxy J1 Mini Prime. If last year is anything to go by, the end of the Galaxy Beta Program should be followed swiftly by the release of the stable version of Oreo, probably within two or so weeks. However, there’s still no guarantee that this will be the case.
Still, the fact that Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ are expected to start getting Android Oreo this month doesn’t mean all owners of these phones will receive the treat at the same time. If anything, we expect to see the stable release hitting those devices taking part in the beta program first before spreading love to non-beta users. This can days, weeks or even months, but hopefully, the latter won’t be the case.
If you haven’t received the latest Android Oreo beta on your Galaxy S8 or S8+, feel free to try a manual update via Settings>Software update. Even though this looks like the final beta, it’s still not stable, but it’s definitely closer to the complete version.