Samsung stopped the rollout of its first stable build of Android 8.0 Oreo for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus due to random reboots affecting some devices after installing the update, the South Korean phone maker said Thursday in a statement provided to SamMobile. The official clarification from the company proves previous theories that the release of the software has been halted due to a major bug, though Samsung insists the issue only appeared in “a limited number of cases.” The Seoul-based tech giant is now in the process of investigating the matter and apparently still hasn’t managed to identify the cause of the unexpected reboots. Once it does, the company is planning to revise its Android 8.0 Oreo build and resume its release in a swift manner.
Users in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, India, and other countries where the rollout already commenced earlier this month are able to continue using the latest version of Samsung Experience based on Google’s 2017 mobile OS, provided they were able to download and install it before the release was halted. Anyone who’s downloaded the update without installing it will have to wait for the new firmware as their files should have been deleted in the last 24 hours following a server-side switch from Samsung. The original equipment manufacturer also deleted the firmware files from its own servers after receiving reports that the update is causing random reboots on some models. The company has yet to provide an approximate timeframe for when it’s expecting to address the issue, suggesting its internal probe is still in its early stages.
The delay may also push back the release of Android 8.0 Oreo for the Galaxy Note 8, with that particular OS version being yet to enter its closed beta phase of development. The latest turn of events surprised some industry watchers as Samsung’s period of testing Android 8.0 Oreo for the Galaxy S8 lineup has been unprecedentedly long and in-depth, spanning approximately two months. The first devices from the company running Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box are scheduled to be officially announced on February 25 and should be unveiled in the form of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus. Unlike the upcoming flagship family, the 2017 handsets won’t have support for Project Treble even after being updated to Oreo, according to previous reports.