T-Mobile US’ support pages have been updated to showcase a number of devices that will be receiving the update to the latest version of Android, 7.0 Nougat, in the coming months. This follows a similar thing for Android 6.0 Marshmallow, where shortly after the consumer launch of the platform, T-Mobile’s webpages were updated showing those devices due the update. In the case of Android 7.0 Nougat, T-Mobile US has released the names of nine devices due to receive the update. These are all HTC and Samsung flagship devices from the last eighteen months or so: we the oldest devices are the HTC One M9 and Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge. We have the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and all of HTC and Samsung’s 2016 high end devices including the HTC 10, Samsung Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy Note 7. At this time the only manufacturers detailed are HTC and Samsung and there’s no word on any of LG’s devices, for example, where we would expect the LG G4, G5 and V10 to receive the update.
T-Mobile US’ support pages explains that in each case, the software update is in the early stages of development detailed as “Manufacturer Development” on the website. The page goes on to explain that there are three stages required to bring the software update to customers: Manufacturer Development is where T-Mobile US and the relevant manufacturer (in this case, either HTC or Samsung) have simply agreed to provide customers with the update. The second stage is T-Mobile Testing, where the device is tested by T-Mobile’s in-house engineers and subsequently certified. This stamp of approval is designed to ensure that customers “get the best quality software possible.” The final stage, simply called “Completed,” is where the software update is available for customers and we would be expected devices to be advising users to download the new software.
Google’s new version of Android was released to selected Nexus devices on Monday and will be rolled out across the world in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, various manufacturers are busy prioritising and working on releasing the Nougat software update for their own devices. Nougat brings with it a number of improvements and some are more visible than others. One is a data saver mode, which restricts background data to most applications. Another is improved battery savings mode with an interim doze mode that sits between device standby and the current full doze mode, as introduced with Android 6.0 Marshmallow. This new interim doze mode is designed to suspend certain activities when the screen has been locked for a period of time. Google have also improved the notification system and enabled split screen application multitasking.