Samsung has officially rolled out its 'Galaxy Beta Program', which lets users of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge sample Android 7.0 Nougat before its public release. We reported this a couple of days back and now, Samsung has made it official through a news release on its website. The Beta program is currently only available for users residing in the US, UK, and Samsung's homeland Korea, with China being added to the list shortly. We reached out to Samsung India to find out if this program is heading here but we haven't gotten any confirmation yet. However, Gadgets 360 understands that the Nougat update for the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge should be rolling out soon.
If you're in the listed countries then all you have to do is sign up for the program using the Galaxy Beta Program app form the Galaxy Apps store or the Samsung Members app from the Google Play Store. Samsung is currently accepting applicants on a first come, first served basis so there seems to be a limited quota for Beta testing. The end date of the program is not set and will differ from country to country. Do note that not all devices will be eligible for this program. For instance, Samsung states that the Galaxy S7 edge Olympic Games Limited Edition and Galaxy S7 edge Injustice Edition are excluded from the program and for the UK, the Beta program is only available to users of S7 and S7 Edge who have a non-operator locked devices or have purchased an open market version.
Besides being able to try out the new user interface and features in the next instalment of Android, the new beta programme lets Samsung iron out any bugs and glaring issues with the new ROM, based on user feedback. This will also help to roll out the final version of the ROM much sooner, with fewer issues. The company first introduced the program last year, when Android 6.0 Marshmallow launched.