Android 7.0 Nougat was released approximately half a year ago in 2016, and it has since made its way to a variety of Android-powered devices, beginning with those Google smartphones first. That is to be expected, since it is a promise from Google that each new version of Android will arrive on their very own devices such as the Pixel, Pixel XL, and other Nexus-branded smartphones before sweeping over to other handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S7, and more recently, the Galaxy S6. Since then, Android 7.1.1 Nougat has also rolled out for Google’s collection of handsets, and it was just six weeks back that the announcement for Android 7.1.2 Nougat beta was made by Google.
Android 7.1.2 Nougat beta came as a form of preview for supported devices, and it also issued the death knell to the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 in terms of support. However, Google has remained mum on the 'maintenance update' ever since, with one more development happening approximately a fortnight back when the Nexus 6P picked up the Android 7.1.2 Nougat beta. It looks like the real deal, the final build of Android 7.1.2 Nougat is at last ready to arrive on supported Nexus and Pixel devices this coming April 3, 2017, based on a new report from Android Central.
What is the idea behind the Android 7.1.2 Nougat arriving on April 3? Well, it seems that Rogers, the mobile carrier over in Canada, is working on rolling out an update to Pixel smartphones on April 3. This particular update is set to enable VoLTE, which conveniently happens to be a feature that has undergone testing on the Android 7.1.2 Nougat beta. The entire timeline also falls into place perfectly, as Google did mention in the past as to how the final release of the Android 7.1.2 Nougat update will kick off in two months’ time.
If the Android 7.1.2 Nougat update were indeed to be released on April 3, then it is an unprecedented move by Google. The technology giant has never rolled out an update without offering a second preview build in the past. I suppose that trends can always be bucked or changed if the entire workflow ends up as more efficient, but then again Android Nougat has been a very different animal from the previous iterations of Android. After all, before Nougat came along, Google only offered Developer Previews that were available for major x.0 updates only, leaving out other forms of minor or maintenance updates.
We do hope that the Android 7.1.2 Nougat update will not cause any kind of battery issues or random shutdowns as seen in Huawei’s Nexus 6P when the Android 7.0 Nougat update was applied. With less than 1% of active Google Play Android devices running on the most recent version of Android, it will be quite a considerable wait before your non-Nexus or non-Pixel smartphone receives the Android 7.1.2 Nougat update.
