What you need to know
- Samsung has moved the Galaxy S8 and S8+ phones to the quarterly release schedule for security updates.
- The move doesn't come as a surprise, since the two phones were launched in April 2017.
- Samsung releases monthly security updates for its flagship phones for only three years.
Samsung's Galaxy S8 and S8+ phones will now receive a new Android security patch every three months. Since the company rolls out monthly security updates to its flagship phones only for up to three years, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ have been moved (via SamMobile) to a quarterly schedule. Both phones went on sale globally in April 2017.
Samsung had released the Galaxy S8 and S8+ with Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box and has already rolled out two major OS upgrades to the flagship phones. While they are unlikely to receive any new features now, they will continue to receive quarterly updates for one more year. Samsung will likely end support for the Galaxy S8 Duo in May 2021.
Last month, Samsung ended support for the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge phones, four years after their launch. Like the Galaxy S8 series, the Galaxy S7 series phones were on the monthly schedule for security updates for three years and were shifted to a quarterly schedule in March last year.
While Samsung isn't usually the fastest Android OEM when it comes to rolling out major OS upgrades, it is currently the only one to roll out security updates for up to four years for its flagship devices. Most Android OEMs guarantee security updates only for up to two years, although Google's Pixel and Android One phones get security updates for up to three years.
