Samsung Galaxy S6 *may* receive Android Oreo

[D13H4RD]

Let's be real here. Unless you own a Google Nexus or Pixel device, Android devices, especially from big name OEMs don't exactly have a great track record for updates. Why they do indeed get updates of some kind, they tend to receive them at a much slower time pace or sometimes not at all and some may even be abandoned before the usual 2 years.

 

The Samsung Galaxy S6 has received 3 OS version upgrades throughout its lifetime of 2 years, from Android 5.0.2 to 5.1.1, then to 6.0.1 and finally to 7.0 Nougat. 

 

But it seems that Samsung may be planning one final OS upgrade for the S6, at least according to support reps.

 

Quote

I talked to four Samsung chat reps about whether the S6 will be receiving Oreo. They all said it will, and one of them even told me he talked to his supervisor.

Now, we know how unreliable some support reps are, so I'd take this with a grain of salt for now. So the S6 might receive Oreo, but it might not.

Remember, this is not an official statement from Samsung at all. These are chat reps.

BUT.... If this is true, this has huge implications for the future. This is the first time Samsung has supported a device with updates for three years. What this likely tells us are two things:

1. That Samsung is finally trying to compete with Google and Apple in terms of long-term support (Hooray!).
2. Samsung will issue at least three years of version updates from now on, like the Google Pixel or the iPhone (the iPhone has actually received 5 years of updates before).

If this is true, this means that the Galaxy Note 8, S8, S8+, S8 Active, and maybe some other Samsung phones could end up receiving Android Q or perhaps even Android R if Samsung wants to really compete with Apple when it comes to updates (which they should; Apple is the king of updates and long-term support IMO).

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/7f255j/the_galaxy_s6_will_likely_be_receiving_android/

 

Quote

If the Galaxy S6 does indeed end up getting Oreo, it would be the first time that a Samsung phone has ever seen three years of major Android updates. Many older Samsung devices are still getting security patches, especially in markets where they were extremely popular, but major updates are out of the question at this point for devices from early 2015 and older, which are out of the standard 18-month support period. The Galaxy S6 and its cousins were extremely popular and lucrative devices for Samsung, and established a premium aesthetic that was a breath of fresh air from the company’s previous plastic efforts. If any older Samsung phones are worth supporting for longer than usual, those are very suitable candidates. Thus far, similar news concerning other Samsung devices of similar age has not come to light. If this does become the new normal for Samsung, owners of this year’s Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 series can most likely expect to see major Android updates all the way to whatever Android Q will be.

Source: https://www.androidheadlines.com/2017/11/samsung-galaxy-s6-series-may-get-android-oreo-update.html

 

Image sources: Reddit link in the first quote

 

Keep in mind that this is not official information from Samsung and that support reps tend to be very unreliable sources of information, so it is important to take this with a grain of salt. But if this ends up being the case, then it's a significant step forward in terms of Android updates and when we do see it in action, I hope others follow suit.

[Drak3]

Meh. Hopefully my S6 is safe.

[dizmo]

It looks more like a confused tech support person just trying to stop a barrage of questions. They might not even know what r/Android is. Also, look how many times they said "might" and "may."

 

It's like me saying "when I win the lottery, I'll buy ____." Or "I might win the lottery this week"

I fully expect this to be proven false.

[Froody129]

Hmm, it’s not like the S6 is a slouch in any way... 

 

Theu don’t have a history of updating though and there’s no massive reason to change that now

[flibberdipper]

I just hope my LG Aristo gets it. I heard a rumor it was going to but who knows with LG.

[atrash]

Went through so much questions just to ask if their phone will (finally) get an update or not... Glad I'm not in that camp ;P

[D13H4RD]

3 hours ago, dizmo said:

It looks more like a confused tech support person just trying to stop a barrage of questions. They might not even know what r/Android is. Also, look how many times they said "might" and "may."

 

It's like me saying "when I win the lottery, I'll buy ____." Or "I might win the lottery this week"

I fully expect this to be proven false.

Hence, why it's been mentioned that you should take this with a grain of salt. A massive one. Support reps have never been good at giving reliable info.

 

2 hours ago, huilun02 said:

Or just visit XDA?

Given how Android today is more locked down than before, not an option for quite a number.

[Matu20]

This move could point others to do the same, updates for older devices are great.

[D13H4RD]

1 minute ago, huilun02 said:

Its only not an option when the user decides its not an option (lazy or otherwise) The process to install custom roms has remained relatively unchanged since it became a thing. Or you can look at Oneplus phones which are even easoer to do so.

It's not the complexity.

 

I used to be an avid root and ROM guy and I still occasionally do so.

 

But with dm_verity, SafetyNet and other stuff like the inability to downgrade without tripping dm_verity post-Oreo are considerations that make it harder to decide if a custom ROM is really the way to do. Custom ROMs should never be an excuse if an OEM delivers subpar support from the get-go.

[D13H4RD]

Just now, huilun02 said:

I'm with you on the subpar support. Safetynet and dm_verity easily taken care of with Magisk

True, but I'm not going to assume that it's going to be a permanent solution.

 

I fear for the day Google just makes a new API that makes Magisk Hide useless.

[jagdtigger]

13 minutes ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

True, but I'm not going to assume that it's going to be a permanent solution.

 

I fear for the day Google just makes a new API that makes Magisk Hide useless.

F-Droid... Plus even google arent that stupid, modded android has a huge user base. If they start screwing over them its gonna hurt them pretty badly .

[Tech Enthusiast]

5 hours ago, Froody129 said:

Hmm, it’s not like the S6 is a slouch in any way... 

 

Theu don’t have a history of updating though and there’s no massive reason to change that now

Actually there is a massive reason.

 

Oreo uses an API like system for the carrier / company modding of the OS.

Basically they mod against that API and (unless the API itself is dismissed for a certain part) they can reuse the code for every future release.

 

This means it is EASIER to do, needs LESS TIME, is MAINTAINABLE and you don't need a genius coder to do all this. 

The modding and the base system will be two seperate code bases and you can switch out the mods on the fly with ease.

 

Hell, a current Orea Mod might even work for the next few Android versions and only needs updates for the device at hand, not for the OS at all.

 

Right now it only takes so long to update because they all have ALTERED the android OS and not coded against that API.

Also the process needs confirmation from the manufacturer AND Google right now. This will be way faster now and might possibly go away completly since they can only code against that API anyways. The base system will stay clean and google can push updates to EVERY phone on their own. No need to wait for carrier / manufacturer updates anymore.

 

Well, at least that is how Orea was designed,... but i am sure those US carriers will find a way to screw up and piss on your cake. Glad i am not in the US ;-.)

[Trixanity]

5 hours ago, Rattenmann said:

Actually there is a massive reason.

 

Oreo uses an API like system for the carrier / company modding of the OS.

Basically they mod against that API and (unless the API itself is dismissed for a certain part) they can reuse the code for every future release.

 

This means it is EASIER to do, needs LESS TIME, is MAINTAINABLE and you don't need a genius coder to do all this. 

The modding and the base system will be two seperate code bases and you can switch out the mods on the fly with ease.

 

Hell, a current Orea Mod might even work for the next few Android versions and only needs updates for the device at hand, not for the OS at all.

 

Right now it only takes so long to update because they all have ALTERED the android OS and not coded against that API.

Also the process needs confirmation from the manufacturer AND Google right now. This will be way faster now and might possibly go away completly since they can only code against that API anyways. The base system will stay clean and google can push updates to EVERY phone on their own. No need to wait for carrier / manufacturer updates anymore.

 

Well, at least that is how Orea was designed,... but i am sure those US carriers will find a way to screw up and piss on your cake. Glad i am not in the US ;-.)

Not entirely accurate (I assume you're referring to Treble which is only a requirement for devices launching with Oreo). They've separated the 'hardware layer' into a vendor partition. That means all hardware specific code and drivers exist in that partition and can be updated separately (even through the play store) from the OS. Before they were intertwined and you'd have to tailor the each software release to the device such as develop new drivers and update kernel. There was no baseline. 

 

Since the Linux kernel will have long term support for 6 years now, all vendor partitions (specifically the software inside) will be written with that in mind and will therefore work across OS releases as long as it complies with Google's specifications. Another requirement is that the vendor partition needs to be able to boot a raw AOSP image resulting in any device with an unlockable bootloader being able to get a basic and functioning AOSP ROM bootable in less than 24 hours.

 

However just because you have the vendor partition separated (and that AOSP can always boot because the vendor partition doesn't need to be updated to support future software) doesn't mean Google can or will push OS updates. OEMs still update your device. OEMs don't put AOSP builds on their devices. They modify it (sometimes heavily). They will still need to update their code although chances are it might still work or only require little work to run because they have a vendor partition to work with and is a known quantity. They will still need to work with their own codebase before updating your device. It's (sadly) not separated into another partition although it might happen in the future. It's certainly easier to update devices now since all hardware components will work on any OS version for the foreseeable future and will remove the need to hack or modify drivers, especially on unsupported components, to make them work on updated software.

 

To reiterate: all hardware stuff is now separated and standardized. Samsung Experience and HTC Sense and whatnot are still part of the OS and still modify the software on the system level making it uncertain how much work is required to make it work with OS updates (or even just security updates).

 

Maybe we'll get an extra year or two of updates and maybe it'll reduce the time to market of updates by 50 or even 80% but it's not a simple OTA from Google on day 1. It depends on how modular and forward-thinking OEM software is.

[D13H4RD]

5 hours ago, huilun02 said:

The only thing thats useless is any attempt to stop phone modding. You put the hardware in the hands of a dev he is 100% going to have his way with it. That said Google is not stopping phone modding at all. Things like Safetynet is just a protective measure for users so that they dont unintentionally install sensitive apps on a compromised device. 

 

Its the manufacturers that want to stop modding because they don't want people getting more out of their devices beyond official support. But again its a futile attempt because ultimately the software is based on Android which is in turn based on Linux.

Well, I hope it continues.

 

So I can continue showing the finger to companies like Oppo.

[Doobeedoo]

This would be amazing, really was surprised when I saw this yesterday. Cause I own S6 and I expected no further major OS updates after 7.0 (still no 7.1) but it would be awesome to see 8.0 Oreo though. It makes sense to support high end devices more, specially popular ones.

[Gullerback]

Even my old S5 Neo got 7.0 which was a gigantic surprise to me.

[Bit_Guardian]

Just made the switch from iPhone 5 to Google Pixel 2 XL. I can't say I'm disappointed. And hopefully the updates remain timely for the next 4 years just like the iPhone's updates were.

[Jito463]

3 hours ago, Doobeedoo said:

Cause I own S6 and I expected no further major OS updates after 7.0 (still no 7.1)

Not even my S7 Active has got 7.1, though it's supposed to receive 8.0 so I suppose they may just be skipping over 7.1 for my device.

[AlTech]

13 hours ago, Bit_Guardian said:

Just made the switch from iPhone 5 to Google Pixel 2 XL. I can't say I'm disappointed. And hopefully the updates remain timely for the next 4 years just like the iPhone's updates were.

You're only going to get official updates for 3 years and not 4 because that's what Google promised.

 

17 hours ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

Well, I hope it continues.

 

So I can continue showing the finger to companies like Oppo.

Or OnePlus.

 

I got a refurb 3 and they're saying that the 3 and 3T aren't getting anything beyond Oreo even though it's a 2016 phone.

 

Like wtf. The biggest reason I have been skeptical of Android Phones has been because of their awful official OS update support.

 

Some projects like Lineage OS are there for consumers who felt betrayed by these companies and wanted to extend the life of their phones.

 

But I'm gonna be really clear with OEMs starting from now.

 

Next time I buy a new Phone I'm expecting at least 4 years of OS Updates or else I'm not buying it. And if they promise more but don't deliver then I'll blacklist them. It's that simple.

[jagdtigger]

13 hours ago, Jito463 said:

Not even my S7 Active has got 7.1, though it's supposed to receive 8.0 so I suppose they may just be skipping over 7.1 for my device.

And here i am sitting beside my good old s5 running 7.1.2 and getting ~monthly updates, Lineage OS FTW... (android 8 is on its way too, but its still have bugs to be ironed out)

 

@AluminiumTech

Good luck with that, you better off with looking for phones without locked boot-loader then installing a custom ROM after the official support ends....

[Bit_Guardian]

3 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

You're only going to get official updates for 3 years and not 4 because that's what Google promised.

Fair enough, but it's easy to root Android phones and install any version of the OS you want.

[Jito463]

3 hours ago, jagdtigger said:

And here i am sitting beside my good old s5 running 7.1.2 and getting ~monthly updates, Lineage OS FTW

They don't have a download for my phone.  They have one for the S7 and S7 Edge, but not the S7 Active.  It's possible the standard S7 install may work on my phone, but I don't really feel like messing around with it to find out (especially not if it bricks my phone).  I'll just wait for the official download.

[PepperButt]

previous owner of the s6 that bought oneplus 5 here

 

fuck

[jagdtigger]

3 hours ago, Jito463 said:

They don't have a download for my phone.  They have one for the S7 and S7 Edge, but not the S7 Active.  It's possible the standard S7 install may work on my phone, but I don't really feel like messing around with it to find out (especially not if it bricks my phone).  I'll just wait for the official download.

Well i wouldnt force it if there is no ROM for it. Each ROM is built for a specific phone model... Next time pick a more popular variant .

[Jito463]

1 hour ago, jagdtigger said:

Well i wouldnt force it if there is no ROM for it. Each ROM is built for a specific phone model... Next time pick a more popular variant .

What's popular isn't always right....or something like that.