14 DAY TRIAL // Although Samsung is doing some testing on the Android Nougat update for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, the South Korean company is taking into consideration the newest Android iterations released by Google.
All Galaxy Beta Program users who have been accepted in the beta have already received three Android 7.0 Nougat beta builds, but Samsung's update plans go beyond Android 7.0 Nougat.
The handset maker has confirmed that both the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge will be upgraded directly to Android 7.1.1 Nougat.
In response to a question from a member of the Galaxy Beta Program who suggested that Samsung could include “double tap to wake” and an upgrade to Android 7.1.1, the company had the following to say:
“Thank you for your suggestion. We are pleased to announce that we will support Android 7.1.1 from the official Nougat OS release. We look forward to receiving your additional valuable suggestions.”
Even though Android 7.1.1 Nougat is not a major update over the previous version, it does come with some neat new features and improvements.
Among them, it is worth mentioning the ability to send GIFs directly from the keyboard, which will only work with select apps.
Also, you will now be able to add app shortcuts directly to the home screen and jump into the action from where you left by simply tapping on them when you want to open them.
Long-pressing on these icons will allow launch actions on supported apps, including Maps and Twitter. A new set of Unicode 9 emojis will be added as well.
There's no telling when exactly Android 7.1.1 Nougat will be released to the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge smartphones, but previous rumors suggested the rollout could begin by the end of the year.
Unfortunately, since Samsung plans to add even more new features and improvements into the update, there's a high chance that Nougat won't arrive until early next year.