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Samsung starts rolling out Android 7.0 Nougat to Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge devices

Samsung starts rolling out Android 7.0 Nougat to Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge devices

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James Bareham

Samsung has officially started rolling out the latest Android 7.0 Nougat update to existing Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge handsets. While beta testers of the software update have had access to the final bits for around a week, unlocked devices in the UK, US, China, and elsewhere are starting to see the Nougat update appear over-the-air (OTA).

Nougat includes a number of new Android features that Samsung has tweaked accordingly. The user interface of the Quick Panel has been updated with a cleaner look, and the icons are now grouped to make them easier to find. Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge owners will also now get access to the new Direct Reply feature for notifications, so you can reply to a message notification without leaving another app. Multi window support has also been improved with the ability to adjust the split screen view, and a new pop-up window feature to allow up to 7 apps to run side-by-side at the same time.

The latest Android 7.0 update also includes a new performance mode that lets you activate different modes that optimize handsets for battery life, performance, entertainment, or gaming. Entertainment mode tweaks the sound and image quality, and high performance mode makes sure the display is using the best settings possible. Enabling these higher performance modes will obviously impact battery life. Samsung Pass also makes its debut with this update, allowing Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge owners to log into certain apps and websites with their fingerprint. Samsung is planning to expand this to mobile banking apps soon.

While the update is slowly rolling out, Samsung hasn’t provided details on when carrier devices can expect to see Nougat. If you have an unlocked handset in the UK, US, and China then you’ll be one of the first to receive Nougat, but devices locked to Verizon, AT&T, and other carriers will only receive the update once it’s approved by each carrier. If you’re tired of waiting then XDA-Developers has a number of guides to obtain the relevant firmware, but we’d recommend waiting on the official OTA update.