Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will only receive quarterly security updates now

Samsung doesn’t release more than two major Android OS updates for its devices and doesn’t really keep flagship devices on the monthly release schedule for security updates beyond three years. That’s just the way it is and there’s no indication of this changing any time soon.

With the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ now crossing that threshold, it’s no surprise that the company has shifted both of these devices to the quarterly cycle. That means both of these devices will no longer receive monthly security updates.

No more monthly security updates for the Galaxy S8/S8+

Samsung had been sending out monthly security updates for these handsets up till now, releasing one just last month which brought the April 2020 security patch. Given that the Galaxy S8/S8+ hit shelves on April 21, 2017, it has been a full three years since these devices were released.

It was about time that Samsung shifted them from the monthly update cycle to the quarterly cycle, and it has done just that now. What does being on the quarterly schedule mean exactly? Samsung will simply bundle all of the security updates in one firmware update that’s going to be sent out once every quarter.

There was obviously no question of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ getting the Android 10 update. They have received the two major OS updates that they were entitled to. Going forward, these devices will only receive one update per quarter. No new features have been added to the devices for quite some time now anyway, so there’s no use expecting that the next update will bring anything other than the security patch.

The Galaxy S8 Active is still on the monthly update cycle. It arrived in August 2017 so it still has a ways to go before hitting the three-year threshold after which it will also be relegated to the quarterly cycle.