As the Samsung world anxiously awaits an official Android Oreo update, some Galaxy Note 8 users are waking up to find their devices have jumped the line. Are you one of them?
Thanks to Reddit user Wizky911, we know that certain Galaxy Note 8 phones are updating themselves to Android 8.0. We don’t know how many, nor do we know when to expect an official Galaxy Note 8 update.
Wizky911, who claims to work for Samsung in the US, stated the updated SIM-less phone was an international factory-unlocked demo model with an Exynos processor and included the January security patch. As of yet, we haven’t heard of any Snapdragon models being updated, so it’s possible that only a small pool of Note 8s in North America will be lucky enough to get the official Oreo update before everyone else.
According to Reddit user Pcriz, here’s what we can expect when our Note 8s do eventually make the switch to Oreo:
- Update to the keyboard
- Picture in picture support (so far I have noticed it in YouTube and google maps)
- App specific long press menus from launcher (can no longer put apps to sleep from that menu or open app settings)
- Secure folder can be set to stay unlocked until the screen goes to sleep
- Autofill API support (with bio-metrics) for all apps, and browser
- Colored media notifications
- Notification categories
- Customization options for notification badges
- Keyboard uses gify for gif search support (doesn’t work in gboard with stock messaging still)
- More edge lighting options
- Ability to ONLY view Samsung cloud items
- Ability to backup Samsung secure folder in Samsung cloud
- Bluetooth, high-quality audio codecs
- Manage passwords of Samsung and third party apps with Samsung pass
Even if you do have an Exynos version of the Galaxy Note 8, you still might be stuck on Nougat for the time being. It’s entirely possible this Oreo rollout is a soak test, and will only affect a random subset of the Galaxy Note 8 population. If that’s the case, it’s likely the Galaxy S8 and S8+ will receive the official seed for Android 8.0 ahead of the Note 8 as previously expected.
For the rest of us, there’s always the beta. While the official beta from Samsung only services the S8 and S8+, there are workarounds to installing it on your Note 8. If you have the latest Note device, make sure you check out our guide below on installing the beta, although know the beta official ends January 15. That means an official Oreo release may be coming shortly after, though it will obviously be held back for a little while by carriers.
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