Traces of the new update surfaced recently

Apr 11, 2017 16:14 GMT  ·  By

The latest major update that Samsung rolled out to its smartphones was Android 7.0 Nougat earlier this year, which should run on many of the company’s premium devices. However, it seems that Samsung has already started testing the new Android 7.1 Nougat version for its smartphones.

The latest update to Samsung’s S Health and Game Tuner applications reveal support for Android 7.1 Nougat. This is the first time that the target API for Android 7.1 appears in the changelog of a Samsung proprietary app, meaning that the South Korean company might be preparing to roll out the update to its current flagship devices, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.

The two smartphones seem the most likely pick for the OS update, but 7.1 Nougat could also arrive on other premium smartphones from Samsung.

Android 7.1 Nougat could arrive to premium Samsung phones soon

The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ were released with Android 7.0 Nougat on board, but it’s unclear when the update will actually hit the phones. The testing period could last for a while, as Samsung will be busy spotting any bugs or issues that could appear when rolling the new version on the phones.

The next big release will surely be Android O, but that will happen several months from now and some time will pass until Samsung prepares it for premium phones. Google has only released the first developer preview of Android O, not even the actual name of the new version is known.

This isn’t the first time that we’re hearing about Samsung prepping a new Nougat update for its smartphones. Back in March, a Galaxy A3 2016 running Android 7.1.1 Nougat was spotted on a benchmark site. It’s not uncommon for Samsung to test out various Android versions on its smartphones before rolling out the update globally. In any case, an Android update to Samsung’s phones will surely roll out sooner rather than later.