Android 9 Pie has officially begun rolling out to the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ in the U.S.
The Galaxy S9 and S9+ are now being updated to Android Pie on Xfinity Mobile. The update is version G960USQU3CSAB for the Galaxy S9 and G960USQU3CSAB for the Galaxy S9+. As you might expect for an update to a new version of Android, these updates for the GS9 and GS9+ are big, coming in at nearly 2000MB.
As for what's included, Galaxy S9 and S9+ owners can expect Samsung's new One UI. This user interface aims to make big screens easier to use by keeping relevant content that you want to interact with on the bottom half of the screen, while content that you're going to be viewing will be placed in the upper half. In the Messages app, this means that your list of messages will be in the bottom half of the screen so that you can easily scroll through the list and tap the top-most threads.
The update to One UI will also bring a user interface that's more clear and intuitive. There's a system-wide Night Mode, too, which should help save a little battery life with the Super AMOLED displays on the S9 and S9+. And then there's the Settings app, which will show your most used settings first.
It's kind of a surprise to see Xfinity Mobile be the first U.S. carrier to release Android Pie for the Galaxy S9 and S9+, but it's exciting news for customers on that provider. And for folks on other U.S. carriers, this is good news because it means that the update should be progressing through the other U.S. carriers' testing programs. Hopefully we'll see AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon roll out Pie to their Galaxy S9 and S9+ models soon.