Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are the 2017 flagship phones from Samsung and currently running on Android 8.0 Oreo in most regions. Previously, Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus flagships were expected to receive Android 8.1 update but, Samsung decided to skip Android 8.1 The upcoming big update for these flagships is Android 9 Pie.
Android P is arrived as Developer Preview 1 on March 8th, 2018, with many awesome features like Wi-Fi RTT, Markup Editor, Neural Network API 1.1 and so on. Later, the Search Giant pushedout the DP2 cum first Beta at Google I/O in May. In the second preview, new features like Gesture Interface and many user interface improvements arrived.
Later in June, the DP2 was released and on July 2nd, the Beta 3 cum DP4 arrived. Major refinements in these previews are final APIs, new Back button, new navigation style, changes to UI and lockscreen and some bug fixes.
The last preview with final system behaviours arrived in 25th July and is very near to the final version. Later, on August 6th, the Search Giant released the official version of Android 9 with the codename of Pie which is sweet and simple. Previously, the Android 9.0 update is codenamed internally as Pistachio Ice Cream. Till now the rollout begins for Pixel, Pixel 2 and Essential devices.
Editor’s Pick : Android Pie is coming soon for Galaxy S9 and Note 8
When will Android Pie reach Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus ?
Earlier, the South Korean tech giant launched the Oreo Beta program in November, first in its home country and later in the US too. In the part of the program, Samsung rolledout many Oreo betas for registed Galaxy S8 users. But this time, the program might be restricted to Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus.
So the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus may have to wait some time to taste the latest flavour of Android. Most probably, Samsung may begin the rollout of Android 9.0 Pie for Galaxy S8 in South Korea and the US in Q1 of 2019, according to our estimates. In the remaining regions the rollout may take place in Q2 of 2019. The official rollout dates of the update will be revealed in coming days.
New Features Coming with Android Pie update :
The key features of stock version of Android Pie are Gesture-based interface, New Media Voume sliders and icons, revamped Messaging style, New Back button, UI improvements, Wi-Fi RTT, Adaptive Battery and many more. Now we review the key features one by one :
1. Gesture-based User Interface
In the Android P, Google totally revamped the interface and removed the app previews button. The shape of the Home button changed to pill shape, to access app previews, Galaxy S8 users swipe up on home button, then horizontal app previews will be displayed. Users can multitask easily by using Gestures, swipe right or left on the home button to switch between apps.
Editor’s Pick : Android Pie is coming soon for Galaxy S9 and Note 8
The back button also disappears when not in use, only when necessary inside apps, the button appears. The shape of the button changed to chevron from Triangle. So Android P totally revamps the user experience with its Gesture-based Interface.
2. Wi-Fi Round Trip Time
Android P makes navigation inside large buildings easy with the using Wi-FI RTT. By using the IEEE 802.11mc Wi-Fi protocol, android devices can determine the distance of the device from the Wireless APs within a couple metres. So indoor navigation becomes easier with this feature. The probable applications of Wi-Fi RTT are smart Voice commands, automation etc. More details about the feature will be revealed in coming days.
3. Adaptive Battery
Adaptive Battery is one of the great improvements to battery life with the update. The VP of Android Engineering, Dave Burke claimed at Google I/O, the feature saves upto 30 percent battery juice. The feature uses On-Device Machine learning to save battery juice.
The Adaptive Battery feature finds out which apps user is going to use in coming hours, based on the user’s behaviour and disables the remaining apps and services. So CPU wake-up calls are reduced massively and henceforth the battery drain too. The feature might get improved further in upcoming android preview and final release.
4. User Interface changes
In the DP4, Google totally revamped the UI icons, removing the background fill. So icons in Quick Settings toggles, Media Volume icons appear with a fresh look. In the Settings Menu also, background fill of some icons has removed. Google also added a Keyboard switch to the nav bar in DP4, so while typing, users can easily switch between different keyboards. The Keyboard switch button appears in the place where the App Previews button was present.
5. Shush Mode
It is one of the awesome features arrived with the Android 9 update for Pixel devices. Since Samsung customize stock android before rolling out to its flagship, we are not sure whether this feature make out to Galaxy S8 users or not, at this moment.
The Shush feature is an enhancement for Do not Disturb, when the user puts the device face down, the feature gets activated. So no notification pings, beeps or calls will be heard except from the whitelisted contacts in case of any emargencies. Shush helps to reduce smartphone usage and also decrease addiction along with Digital well being.
6. Adaptive Brightness
Google brought the Adaptive Brightness feature initially with the Android L update back in 2014. Adaptive Brightness changes the brightness of display, according to ambient brightness level detected by Light sensor. However, in some apps the brightness set by the feature is not enough or more than required, so users have to again slide on the brightness slider to adjust brightness
In Android Pie, the Search Giant brought refined Adaptive Brightness feature which works with on-device machine learning. Thus, Android automatically changes the brightness once user opens the app to the previously set level by the user inside the app. The feature can enabled or disabled in the Settings Menu.
Android Pie App Actions
Google brought a new feature called App actions with the Pie update to provide better Android experience for users. The feature is basically remodeling of Google Assistant, but app developers can integrate more actions for their apps. Let`s how this interesting feature works.
For example, when the user selects a text containing the name of music album, smart text selection shows Spotify option, so that user can listen to it with a single click. When the user connects headphone to the jack, Android will ask instantly whether to play music from the favorite play list in Spotify or do some thing else. The feature will be refined further in upcoming updates.
Update on 25/7/2018 :
The last preview of Android P arrived today and the Factory images are available for Google Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2 and Pixel XL devices. The registered Pixel owners should receive the OTA notification in coming hours. The DP5 is very stable and near to the public release of Android P. Along with Pixel users, Xperia XZ2, Nokia 8 Sirocco and some other flagship users will also receive the DP5 in coming days as part of the Beta program.
According to Dave Burke, the final release of Android P is very near and he also suggested app developers to make thier apps ready for Android 9.0 P. Most probably the final version Android P arrive in early or mid-August rather than late-August.
Update on 6/8/2018 :
Google pushed out the Android 9 Pie official version to AOSP and Pixel 2 and Pixel devices started receiving the update. The partner devices like Xperia XZ2, Nokia 8 Sirocco and 7 Plus will get the update very soon. Along with the Pixel flagships, Essential Phone users also receiving the update. The Search Giant announces the codename of the update as ‘Pie’ and version number as 9.
Digital Well Being and App Slices features are absent in the current rollout, however Pixel users can signup for the Beta version of Digital Wellbeing and both features will hit Pixel devices in the end of fall. The final version is very similar to the final preview and no major changes have been noticed at the moment.
Update on 25/10/2018 :
The beta rollout of Android Pie is about to begin for Galaxy S9 and S9+ devices. A Galaxy S9+ user managed to download an early build of Beta with version number G965USQU3ZRJ7 and the full details of Experience 10 UI have been revealed. The build for Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices also may come with the same Experience 10 User Interface.
The first noticed change in the new interface is the new font system-wide. The rounder and friendlier SamsungOne font is really nice to look, Messages and Dialers apps got new clean and fluid like UI. In the earlier build got by XDA devlopers gave a glimpse at the night theme designed by Samsung. The navigation through Gesture based interface is very similar to that on Google Pixel 2 devices sporting Pie. More details about the Android Pie for Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices will be revealed soon.
Update on 1/1/2019
Samsung scheduled stable Android 9 Pie rollout for Galaxy S9, S9+ and Note 9 for mid-January. Currently the last Beta cum Beta 4 is rolling to S9+ users in the US. For Galaxy S8 and S8+ devices, the South Korean tech giant scheduled the rollout for February 15th. Along with Galaxy S9 series, S8 series will also receive the One UI and many notable optimizations with the update.
The development of Pie update is in final stage and some beta testers reported unusual battery drain and Bixby issues. Any how, more details will be revealed after the beginning of stable rollout for S9 and S9+.
Update on 16/1/2019 :
Finally, Samsung begins the Beta registrations of One UI, as reported by Sammobile and some users from India. The screenshots shared by Galaxy S8 owners show the Firmware version of the Beta as G950FXXU4ZSA5 for the Galaxy S8 and G955FXXU4ZSA5 for the Galaxy S8+. The size of the update is about 1.6 GB and brings remarkable changes to the flagships along with January’s Security patch. However, as these are priliminary releases only, we recommend users to do a full backup of data before downloading the update.
According to the Roadmap shared by Samsung through the Members app before, the final stable build won’t be in air until March 2019. So there may be two or more previews come eventually in coming days.
We will update this post soon with more details about Android Pie update for Galaxy S8.
