How to Get Android Nougat on Your Galaxy S7
Samsung is slowly but surely bringing Google's latest and greatest Android Nougat 7.0 software to the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. And it's even doing it a bit ahead of schedule.
Credit: Sam Rutherford
Some Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge owners were alerted by Samsung on Thursday to the official rollout of Nougat to their devices, Android Headlines is reporting. While an earlier report suggested Samsung would wait until Jan. 17 to deliver Nougat to its customers, the company is kicking things off now and appears to be starting with its beta users.
Although early adopters are getting first dibs, others will be getting it in the days and weeks ahead. Indeed, it's not uncommon for Android rollouts of this magnitude to take weeks until you actually see it available on your device.
So, what should you expect?
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Once Samsung sees the new Nougat to your device, you'll receive a notification on your handset saying that a software update is available. If you choose to update to Nougat -- and you should, since it comes with improvements to notifications, design tweaks, and security enhancements -- you'll need to download an install package that, at least for beta users, is 215MB. If you're not a beta user, your download might be larger or smaller.
Once the package downloads, it'll start the update process and take some time to get up and running on your device. From there, you'll be able to tweak the settings as you wish and customize the operating system to your specifications.
However, Samsung made what could prove to be a disappointing move with the Nougat release. Instead of offering Android 7.1.1, the latest Nougat update that Google released in December, you'll only be offered Android 7.0, according to Android Headlines. That said, the Samsung Nougat update does include a security patch that was seeded to Nougat owners on Jan. 1.
It's unclear whether Samsung might offer an update to 7.1.1 at some point in the future.
Regardless, when you do get your hands on Nougat, expect to find a multi-window feature so you can try out two apps at once. The software also includes a fast-switching feature to move to and from apps; it provides more control over your battery; and there's a slew of notifications improvements, including the ability to directly reply to them from anywhere in the operating system.
Samsung has not said when all of its Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge users will get their hands on Nougat.
See also : Our Favorite Android Nougat Features and Tips
