Samsung launched the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ series in the year 2017. Pioneer phones in the S series; they were some of the most revolutionary smartphone devices in Samsung’s listing. They were the first S-series devices to ditch the home button, and their slick design is still a major element of Samsung’s signature style.
All the key features and updates about Samsung Galaxy S8 can be seen in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xanUHPYGAI
Till 2020 Samsung was providing monthly software updates for the Samsung Galaxy S8 series; that shrunk to quarterly and lastly biannually, till late 2020. Lastly four years after the release of the S8 series, Samsung is ending software support for these Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones this year. Unfortunately, Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ series will not receive future security patches or the next Android software update.
The point that Samsung supported Galaxy S8 devices for such a long time is an impressive feat on its own. But recently Samsung has announced that it is ending the software and security updates for the smartphone devices such as Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ series. (manufactured four to five years back)
The reason for limiting the future security updates by Samsung is said to have the following main reasons:
- Samsung releases lots of smartphones and it is difficult for its software developers to update all Samsung’s Android-powered devices as opposed to Apple which has a handful of devices and its own iTunes software support, unlike Samsung.
- Samsung uses its User Interface called ONEUI, which means Samsung puts its skin on top of stocked Android. This gives the Samsung smartphone edge over the Android updates released by Google but customizing the latest Android update to OneUI updated version and floating it individually for dozens of Samsung smartphone models is also a big challenge. By skipping out the previous updates (i.e. for devices that date back 4 to 5 years) gives better coverage of all the latest devices to receive the update on time.
- As we view the business model of Samsung; it’s clear that the company earns from selling hardware and accessories better than giving software updates; therefore this step of ending software support as the phone gets older than 4 to 5 years will encourage the user to switch to latest Samsung phones released in the market.
Apart from the Samsung Galaxy S8 series, other devices in Samsung’s 2017 list, are Galaxy S8 Active and the Galaxy Note 8, these phones will also lose update support later this year. The 2018 manufactured Galaxy S8 Lite will also lose its support next year. Samsung is also switching the Galaxy A10, the Galaxy A20, and 2019 manufactured Galaxy Tab A 10.1’s security update schedule from quarterly to biannually.
If you are using any of the smartphones mentioned above; now’s probably the time to start searching for a new phone. We suggest a replacement for your S8 or S8+, check out the new Samsung Galaxy S21, a revolutionary device on its own if you are a loyal Samsung customer. Other brands, like Google and OnePlus, are also worth checking out (especially if you want to save a bit of money).
