Visitors look at the new Samsung Galaxy S7 on the opening day of the World Mobile Congress at the Fira Gran Via Complex on Feb. 22, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo : Getty Images David Ramos)
Android 7.0 Nougat is likely to reach Samsung flagship smartphones real soon and both the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are tipped to get the new mobile OS first. Such scenario was hinted by two new developments - Samsung has commenced the public beta testing of the operating system and T-Mobile has just provided its November security update for the two handsets.
While there was no mention that its latest firmware release is a prelude to an imminent Nougat rollout, T-Mobile has officially announced the availability of the latest update for the S7 and S7 Edge. The jump is available over the air and weighs 81.96MB. The whole updating process is estimated by the service provider to be completed in 10 minutes.
According to Phone Arena, the firmware versions G930TUVU4PK1 and G935TUVU4APK1 are described as maintenance update for the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge respectively. T-Mobile gave no clue that it will soon issue the Nougat for both devices but the OTA update somehow pointed to that direction - that work is already underway for the devices to get a taste of Google's latest mobile OS.
And the better indication of such an event came from Samsung. The Galaxy device maker is now beta testing Android Nougat, SamMobile reported. "The Korean giant has started beta testing Android 7.0 Nougat for the Galaxy S7 edge (and, we presume, the regular Galaxy S7 as well) in the UK," the report said.
The move is actually a repeat of last year as the same report noted that prior to the Marshmallow rollout for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge in 2015, Samsung also allowed beta testing of the OS.
This year's program is yet to be officially announced but Samsung is expected to send out advisories soon and expand the Nougat beta testing beyond the United Kingdom.
But Sammy fans on the S7 and S7 Edge need not wait as SamMobile said that the Galaxy Beta Program is now live in the Galaxy App Store in select locations. Or for those unable to find the app, the report provided two links (here and here) to obtain the APK for manual install. Be reminded though that manual installing the Nougat beta entails lots of work and some form of risks so think twice before taking the plunge on this.
The safer route is to enlist on Samsung's beta program but as clarified by SamMobile, securing the registration will not necessarily mean that one will be picked to test drive Android 7.0 Nougat on the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge.
