This week, on our weekly news roundup: The HTC U12+ is finally getting its slice of Pie on Taiwan, the Galaxy A50 gets a few new features with June's patch included, and more!
What's New This Week?
HTC
- HTC U12+ is now receiving Android Pie in Taiwan
LG
- US version of LG G7 ThinQ is now receiving Android Pie
Samsung
- Galaxy S8 series and Note 8 receive QR scanner support
- Galaxy S9 and Note 9 just got the Live Focus feature of the S10
- US/Snapdragon version of the Galaxy S10 still hasn't received the dedicated night mode
- Galaxy A50 gets night mode, June's patch, and more
HTC
HTC U12+
HTC's phones are considered to be of the dying breed kind. We rarely ever hear about updates from them.
The U12+ is one of their biggest flagships, and only now do we hear about the Pie update which is an OS that came out almost a year ago. Kinda sad. But, it is what it is.
In any case, there might have been a huge delay, but the U12+ is now receiving the currently latest version of Android in Taiwan. This is a good sign that a global rollout is coming towards our way soon enough. So, keep your eyes peeled for an OTA notification in the upcoming weeks.
In terms of size, the update is rather small at a bit more than a gigabyte. Chances are that a few Pie features are included, like Digital Wellbeing and such, but, that's about it. The changelog doesn't provide a whole lot of information.
LG
G7 ThinQ (US)
A couple of days ago, US users of the LG G7 ThinQ reported that they started receiving the latest version of Android. According to MyLGPhones, if you got the OTA notification, then you can install the update by using LG Bridge.
This probably means that all US variants will work just fine with the same firmware? We're not sure, so, if you know more, do let us and everyone else know about it in the comments section.
As per usual, apart from Android Pie, you're also getting some Pie features. Digital Wellbeing, Adaptive Battery, improved Adaptive Brightness, and more.
Due to that, the update size is kinda on the hefty size at a bit more than 3 gigs. Ouch. Make sure to enable Wi-Fi before updating.
Samsung
S8 Series And Note 8
Another update is here for the beloved Galaxy S8 and it brings QR support to the table. Furthermore, you're also getting the latest Android security patch.
All you need to do in order to use that new feature, is to open the camera app, point your phone to a QR code, and then it'll automatically open the website, contact, or whatever else may be "attached" to that code. Pretty simple.
This update has already been released in Germany and France and it should become available to more regions soon enough. We don't have an exact date, but it shouldn't be too far.
We don't have information about the size. But, considering the new stuff that it brings, it shouldn't be any bigger than 300 megabytes. Still, consider turning on your Wi-Fi. Just to be safe.
Update: the Note 8 is now receiving this update as well.
Galaxy S9 And Note 9
The latest update for the Note 9 and Galaxy S9 installs Live Focus mode. In you case you haven't heard about it, it's a sort of feature which was included with the S10 series launch out of the box and now it's here for the older flagships as well.
Live Focus essentially allows you to modify the background of pictures that were taken in this mode. The S10 series can do it live while the S9 and Note 9 can only implement it after taking the shot first.
Other that, you're also getting June's security update along with a dedicated night mode and the QR scanner.
Galaxy S10 (US)
The US Snapdragon variant of the Galaxy S10 recently got an update with the June security patch included. However, to the disappointment of many, it didn't include the dedicated night mode.
The Exynos variant already got this feature a while ago and adding more to the wound is the fact that even the Galaxy S9 and the Note 9 have already got it. We're talking about the previous generation here and it gets updates that the latest flagship doesn't have.
Granted, this is not a huge deal. But, we definitely understand how it can anger the users.
Now, we don't know exactly what is going with this delay. Could be the fault of the US carrier system, could be Samsung not paying as much attention to their Snapdragon variants, or it could be both of those. Who knows? Most likely just the carrier system which inevitably delays every update.
Sam Mobile has mentioned that it's likely for the feature to arrive with the July's security patch, which is not very far. But, do take that info with a grain of salt.
Update: S10+ just got it from AT&T. Still waiting for the other carriers.
Galaxy A50
The latest update for the Galaxy A50 arrived a few days ago and it brings quite a lot to the table. To be more specific, we're looking at:
- Night mode
- Super slow-mo
- June's security update
- QR code scanning without Bixby vision
- And minor fixes/improvements
Do keep in mind that some people are complaining about the quality of the super slow motion being a little bit bad. But, then again, this is a budget to mid-range device. So, guess we can't ask for everything without paying something.
June's update is included as well and the QR code scanner that we talked about before with the Galaxy S8 series is here too. Other than that, the changelog mentions that the update may include stability improvements and bug fixes.
That's all for now. We'll let you know if anything else comes up!
Feel like we forgot to mention something important? Got anything wrong? Then let us and everyone else know about it in the comments section down below!
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