Samsung Galaxy S8 Android 8.0 Oreo Beta Rumored To Begin Next Week

A new report indicates Samsung may open its Android 8.0 Oreo beta program for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ Oct. 31. Tech informant, UniverseIce shared information on Twitter Thursday, detailing that the beta program will be available to T-Mobile and AT&T users and that Samsung will have 7,500 spots open to those who want to try Android 8.0 ahead of its official release.

Samsung has not yet confirmed its Android 8.0 Oreo beta for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, but the timeframe for the program is similar to the Android 7.0 Nougat beta for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge. The devices received test software of Android Nougat for two months at the end of 2016 before official updating between January and February.

The new report comes days after a claim that Samsung had plans to officially update the Galaxy S8 devices to Android Oreo in early 2018. At that time there was no word on whether Samsung would offer a beta program for the Galaxy S8 devices.

As Samsung prepares its Oreo rollout, Google also has new developments for the software. The tech giant released Wednesday, it’s developer preview for Android 8.1 Oreo, which is available for various Google-branded devices, including the Pixel 2 smartphones, the original Pixel smartphones, the Pixel C, the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P.

The beta includes new features including Google’s Neural Networks API and Wallpaper Colors API. It also brings updates to the autofill framework, fingerprint features, and notifications, among others.

It is likely that the exact software being tested for Samsung's Beta is Android 8.0 and not Android 8.1. The more current software may be introduced into a future Samsung device, such as the Galaxy S9 or the Galaxy Note 9.