Other than purchasing a new high-tech smartphone, nothing excites a techie more than a new OS upgrade – especially when you jump from one major release to another. To help satisfy our upgrade desires, Rogers just updated their OS Update Schedule. Certainly, it comes with the mandatory disclosure that Rogers tries to be as accurate as possible, but many things beyond their control can cause a delay. December 12th, 13th, and 16th show a lot of ‘Bug Fixes and Security Updates for the BlackBerry Priv, Samsung Note 5, and Samsung Galaxy S6 devices. However, those are regular updates and are not too exciting to receive.
The updates that we are looking for are those Android 7.0 Nougats of gold. Rogers does have a few of the usual “Coming Soon,” which could mean anything. The HTC One M9 and LG G5 are two such devices scheduled for Android 7.0. The Moto Z line up is looking at Android 7.0 Nougat and Security Updates “Coming Soon.” However, the big news is the Sony Xperia X Performance is scheduled for not only Android 7.0 Nougat but also an update to VoLTE in February 2017. Of course, this date is subject to change, but once they stick in an actual month, the chances are good that it will be coming then. When Rogers sends out their new ‘Update Schedule,’ there may be an exact date for February plugged in.
One of the most criticized aspects of the Android OS is its fragmentation and the time it takes manufacturers to ‘customize’ it for their devices. For instance, Android Nougat is only on about 0.4% of Android devices. It was introduced back on March 9, 2016 as a developer preview, but took months for it to show up on any devices. Along with Nougat came a new change for Google when they dropped the Nexus name for their new Pixel series of devices. While it’s nice to ‘see’ a new operating system, Nougat brings a variety of upgrades behind the scenes. Doze is an excellent example of improving on an existing feature from Marshmallow that now activates almost immediately when you turn off your display, helping to save on battery life. It will also give you many practical applications, such as Split Screen, new emoji, call blocking, Data Saver, Customizable Quick Settings, and much more.