Samsung needs to show some seriousness about the Android Pie update

November has just begun, and Samsung smartphone owners are still waiting for news on the Android Pie update. Forget the official update: We don't even know when the Galaxy S9 Android Pie beta will begin. We could look at when previous beta programs started and hope the Pie beta kicks off at around the same time. But then Project Treble didn't exist before Android Oreo. And while we know Treble isn't as helpful for software updates as we might think, it's disappointing to see Samsung keeping mum on the matter.

Samsung's still lagging with major Android updates

We have seen Samsung tease the Android Pie update through the Samsung Members/Samsung+ community, with a hint that the update could roll out officially in January 2019. But while Samsung is just teasing the update, other manufacturers have already released Pie for many devices. It would be unfair to compare Samsung with Nokia or OnePlus, who use stock Android without any of the UI modifications we see on Galaxy devices. But Sony smartphones do have some level of customization, yet the Japanese company has released Pie for at least three devices already.

Now, the kind of changes Samsung is making to its software for Android Pie go much deeper. The same goes for Xiaomi, Oppo, or Vivo phones. And since none of those three Chinese OEMs have updated any device with Pie, we guess we can cut Samsung some slack. Still, that doesn't excuse the fact that Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9 owners are still in the dark about when they will see the major OS upgrade arrive on their phones.

If there's a light at the end of the tunnel, it's not coming with Pie

We also agree that like all major Android upgrades, the latest one isn't that important because most of the features that are coming to stock Android now have already been around on Samsung devices. Oh, and that regular consumers don't really care about software updates. That doesn't make the current state of affairs less disappointing, though. And if Samsung can run a beta program for testing newer versions of Android, the company surely isn't just thinking of regular consumers, right?

Samsung's user interface might be the best out there, but its relationship with Android updates is still rather lacking. We've seen Samsung releasing security updates more frequently in recent months, and we can only hope things will improve when it comes to major OS upgrades for Galaxy smartphones and tablets.