[Update: Appears to be fixed] Android 9.0 Pie update brings troubles for some Gear smartwatch users

With every major Android update, it’s common for some apps to misbehave, and the same thing happened with the Samsung Gear app when Google released the Android P Developer Preview back in March. Gear device users who installed the beta software faced compatibility and performance issues with the Samsung Gear app.

The app apparently suffered from crashes and connectivity issues, rendering some Gear wearables unreliable and in some cases completely unusable. Samsung was made aware of these problems with countless reviews on Google Play Store, and the company assured these would be fixed by the time the final build of Android 9.0 is out.

Samsung is looking into the complaints

After months of beta testing, Google finally released the stable version of Android 9.0 last week, but it appears Samsung hasn’t addressed the Gear app compatibility issues yet. While it is not clear how widespread and serious these issues are, many users are still complaining about them on the company forums, Reddit, Twitter, and the Google Play Store. On its part, Samsung says it is looking into it these complaints but is not offering any details about when and if a fix will arrive.

It is understandable the Gear app didn’t play nice with the Android P beta. But for Samsung to not iron out the issues before the stable version rolls out to the general public is unacceptable since the company sells its wearables as compatible with non-Samsung devices as well. Users have been complaining about these bugs since the arrival of the first Developer Preview, so Samsung had ample time to take care of them.

Now that Android 9.0 is out for the general public, many Gear smartwatch users may be updating their smartphones to the latest Android version without anticipating any Gear app compatibility issues. If the reported issues are indeed widespread, we can expect more noise in the coming days from disgruntled users.

If you regularly use a Gear smartwatch, it is better to hold off updating your Google pixel or other Pie-supported phones until Samsung fixes or offers a solution for these compatibility problems.

Update: Samsung pushed out an update to the Gear app which seems to have fixed the issues. The latest update v2.2.21.18080361 also adds support for the recently-announced Galaxy Watch and renames the app to Galaxy Wearable. If you haven’t received the update yet, you can grab the APK from here. Do let us if the update resolved all the issues for you.

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Contradicting other reports, IDC puts Xiaomi at the top in the Indian smartphone market

When IDC, Strategy Analytics, and Canalys published their Q2 2018 global smartphone shipment numbers, all their findings were in sync in spite of minor differences in data. When it comes to the Indian market, however, the figures from IDC tell an entirely different story from that of Canalys and Counterpoint Research.

Both Canalys and Counterpoint Research showed considerable gains for Samsung in the second quarter of this year. While Canalys said that Samsung almost beat Xiaomi to take back the crown, the numbers from Counterpoint Research put Samsung ahead of Xiaomi in the Indian smartphone market. Contradicting both these reports, IDC India’s Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker puts Xiaomi comfortably at the top of the Indian smartphone market in Q2 2018.

Samsung placed second

According to the IDC data, Indian smartphone market grew at a healthy 19.8% year-on-year to 33.5 million units. IDC credits this growth to the launch of many online-exclusive models and a strong performance by offline-focused smartphone vendors. Online shipments increased by 44% year-on-year and accounted for 36% of the smartphone market.

Xiaomi stood at the top of the table in Q2 2018 with 10 million shipments and 29.7% market share, up from 4.8 million units and 17.2% market share in Q2 last year. Samsung also increased its year-on-year shipments from 6.6 million units to 8 million units, but still fell short of Xiaomi’s numbers and settled for the second place with 23.9% market share.

Vivo and Oppo occupied the next two places while a relatively unknown company Transsion (owns offline-focused Tecno and online-exclusive Infinix brands) occupied the fifth spot. Together, the top five vendors accounted for 79% of all the smartphone shipments in the quarter.

This kind of contradictory findings goes on to show why numbers from these market research firms shouldn’t be taken at face value. While minor variances in data between different reports are understandable, such polar-opposite findings suggest that either one or all of them got their shipment data wrong.

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The higher base storage on the Galaxy Note 9 is a boon for dual-SIM users

With the Galaxy Note 9, Samsung is giving us 128GB of storage on the base model, along with support for 512GB microSD cards (yes, these worked before, but now there’s official support built in). And while more storage is great for everyone, it will be especially useful for dual-SIM users.

More internal storage is great for those using two SIM cards

With current Samsung flagships, when the 64GB of internal storage starts running out, it becomes an issue for those who use the device with two SIM cards. That’s because these phones have a hybrid slot that can either have two SIMs inside or one SIM card and a microSD card. The only solution, therefore, becomes deleting some pictures, apps or other data.

The Galaxy Note 9 comes with a hybrid SIM slot as well, but with 128GB of storage, the need for deleting data will be comparatively less and a boon for anyone who uses the phone with two SIM cards. Of course, it’s still suggested to offload as much data to the cloud as possible. For pictures, Google Photos’ free backup is great, even though it slightly downgrades the quality if you want to upload unlimited images.

If you wish to see whether your country is getting the dual SIM variant of the Galaxy Note 9, you can head to Samsung.com (select your country manually if the site doesn’t automatically detect your country) and check out the specs in the listing for the Galaxy Note 9.

Galaxy Note 9

• Model: SM-N960F
• Dimensions: 161.9 x 76.4 x 8.8mm
• Display: 6.4" (162.5mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 9810
• Camera: 12 CMOS Dual OIS (F1.5/F2.4) & Telephoto: 12MP AF F2.4)

More specifications

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Go home, selfie stick! With the Galaxy Note 9, I’m finally using the S Pen

It was back in 2011 when Samsung released the first Galaxy Note and single-handedly started the phablet revolution. Everyone is making big-screen phones now, but the Galaxy Note lineup has continued to be unique thanks to the S Pen. But while the S Pen is great for many who pick up a Galaxy Note smartphone, I had never been a fan. That has now changed thanks to the Bluetooth-enabled S Pen introduced on the Galaxy Note 9.

The Bluetooth-enabled S Pen is awesome

As you might have guessed from the title, the ability to control the camera app with the S Pen is the primary reason for why I’m finally using the S Pen. And it’s not just about taking selfies, even though using the S Pen for clicking pictures will make things quite convenient. My girlfriend and I frequently connect our device to the TV to see pictures on a big screen, and thanks to the S Pen, flicking through those images will be easier with the Galaxy Note 9. And since I now have the S Pen out of its slot more often, I’ve also realized how useful it is to be able to scribble notes even when the screen is off. It’s not a new feature, but it’s easily one of the most thoughtful new functions Samsung had introduced with the stylus and I’m actually using it now.

In short, it took Samsung eight years to make the S Pen feel truly useful instead of a gimmick for me. The Galaxy Notes are supposed to be all about productivity and creativity, yes, but for those who never used the stylus as regularly as the diehard S Pen fans, things may finally change this year.

Don’t Miss: The S Pen in the Galaxy Note 9 packs a lot of new features

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Yep, the Galaxy Note 9 has the best smartphone display ever

DisplayMate has published its results of the Galaxy Note 9’s display and deemed it the best smartphone display ever. Surprised? Neither are we. The Galaxy Note 9 display has many improvements over the Galaxy Note 8 and also a few over the Galaxy S9. For example, while the Galaxy S9 had a record absolute color accuracy (0.7 JNCD) that was already visually indistinguishable from perfect, Samsung has managed to improve the Note 9 display slightly (0.5 JNCD) even on that front.

Best smartphone display award goes to the Galaxy Note 9

The Galaxy Note 9 display is 27 percent brighter than the Galaxy Note 8’s and also 32 percent higher in contrast at maximum brightness with auto brightness enabled. Technically, the Galaxy Note 9 can reach up to 710 nits (cd/m2) with an all-white screen – that is, when the screen is completely lit up – and 1,050 nits peak brightness when only a small amount of pixels are lit up. The peak brightness is lower than the Note 8 and the S9, but as DisplayMate notes, that shouldn’t be an issue as the peak brightness doesn’t come into the equation for most apps and images. The Note 9 is also similarly efficient as the Galaxy S9 and Note 8 when it comes to power consumption, suggesting that current OLED panels may have reached a peak in this regard.

There are a few other parameters in which the display on the Galaxy Note 9 comes out on top (such as the shift in brightness and color at extreme viewing angles). You can read DisplayMate’s detailed results at the source link. And, of course, do check out what we think of Samsung’s new flagship overall and look forward to our complete review in the coming days.

Galaxy Note 9

• Model: SM-N960F
• Dimensions: 161.9 x 76.4 x 8.8mm
• Display: 6.4" (162.5mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 9810
• Camera: 12 CMOS Dual OIS (F1.5/F2.4) & Telephoto: 12MP AF F2.4)

More specifications

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Galaxy S7 edge August 2018 security patch update rolling out

Another flagship Galaxy phone is now being updated with the August 2018 security patch. The Galaxy S7 edge is on the receiving end this time around, with an update for the device rolling out in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. The update brings software version G935FXXU2ERH1 and is the first software update after Oreo for the Galaxy S7 edge in these markets.

August 2018 security patch release for the Galaxy S7 edge

The Galaxy S7 doesn’t seem to have received the update yet, but that shouldn’t be the case for long. As far as the changelog is concerned, it could be similar to the August update for other flagships and include a point about Samsung’s Game Launcher services. Game Launcher hasn’t received new functionality or changes to existing ones, and we’re guessing Samsung is only mentioning it in the update because of the recent release of Fortnite for Android. The update could also include fixes and improvements for issues discovered in the first Oreo release.

Own a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge? Open the Settings app on the phone, tap Software update, then tap Download updates manually to see if a new update is available for you. If it is, do tell us in the comments along with your country of residence. For details on the August 2018 security patch, go here.

Galaxy S7 edge DUOS

• Model: SM-G935FD
• Dimensions: 150.9 x 72.6 x 7.7mm
• Display: 5.5" (139.3mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 8890
• Camera: 12 MP, Dual Pixel F1.7

More specifications

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Galaxy J3 (2017) Oreo update released in Russia and the UAE

It looks like while our attention was focused on the Galaxy Note 9 last week, Samsung decided to release the Oreo update for the Galaxy J3 (2017). The Galaxy J3 (2017) Oreo update is available in Russia and the UAE at the moment. It’s the first J series phone to get the Android 8.0 Oreo update and hopefully its siblings – the Galaxy J5 (2017) and Galaxy J7 (2017) – will not be too far behind.

Galaxy J3 (2017) Oreo update now available

The Oreo update comes with software version J330FXXU3BRH1 for Russia and J330FXWU3BRG3 for the UAE, along with the June 2018 security patch. We’re not aware of the changelog just yet, but it should be similar to the Oreo update for the Galaxy A smartphones. So expect to see an upgraded Samsung keyboard with GIF support, advanced app shortcuts on the home screen, notification badges, custom folder icons, new video player controls, the ability to hide pictures in the gallery, and more.

To see if Oreo is available for your Galaxy J3 (2017), open the Settings app, tap Software update, then tap Download updates manually. If you’re in Russia or the UAE, you can also download the complete firmware from our database (Russia | UAE) and make the jump to Oreo manually as well. There’s no telling when the update will come to other markets, but fingers crossed Samsung doesn’t delay things too much.

Do tell us if you’ve already updated and also if the update is available for you in another country as well.

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New SmartThings Mesh Wi-Fi system will deliver improved performance

Samsung’s SmartThings IoT division today announced the launch of a new Wi-Fi mesh system that promises to provide improved performance. The new system has been built keeping the demands of the modern day internet user in mind. The system will thus deliver an intelligently optimized whole home network while also offering users the ability to control smart home devices.

SmartThings Mesh Wi-Fi system

The new mesh Wi-Fi system is powered by artificial intelligence-based Wi-Fi technology from Plume and it includes a built-in SmartThings Hub. It will thus provide fast and consistent coverage while covers the whole home.

This partnership with Plume brings the latter’s AI mesh Wi-Fi optimization technology to the system. It can adapt to internet usage in the home to intelligently allocate bandwidth while reducing interference and delivering maximum Wi-Fi capacity. It provides users with the fastest speed possible by selecting the optimal band and frequency channel on its own.

Each SmartThings Wi-Fi router has a range of 1,500 square feet so a 3-pack covers 4,500 square feet. Users will be able to expand coverage with additional mesh routers being added to the setup. All of this can be managed through the companion app for iOS and Android.

The system also has an integrated SmartThings Hub through which users will be able to control their smart home devices. Hundreds of third-party devices and services are compatible with this Internet of Things platform.

A 3-pack of the SmartThings mesh Wi-Fi system will retail for $279.99 while a single device will cost $119.99. Samsung has started selling it today through its own website as well as through its retail partners.

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Galaxy C9 Pro Android 8.0 Oreo update released in China

The Galaxy C9 Pro is making the jump to Android 8.0 Oreo in China. It seems the update was released at the beginning of August, but we missed it at the time. The update first went out to the unlocked model and it has now been released for the China Mobile variant. The software version is C9008ZMU1CRG8 for the China Mobile variant and C9000ZCU1CRG6 for the unlocked model. Both come with the July 2018 security patch.

Galaxy C9 Pro update out in China

The Galaxy C9 Pro Oreo update includes most of the new features and changes as seen on other Samsung phones. These include a new keyboard with high-contrast themes and GIF support, new Always On Display clock styles and customization options, ability to quickly access some functions by long-pressing an app’s icon on the home screen or app drawer, notification badges, and auto-repeat and 2x playback speed options for the inbuilt video player app. Oreo also limits background services from waking up too often in order to improve performance and battery endurance.

When will the C9 Pro Oreo update arrive in other countries? Well, Samsung’s recent roadmap for the India, for example, pegged it for a January 2019 release, so it could be a while before availability is expanded outside China. But it could arrive much sooner as well, as Samsung’s roadmap keeps changing often. If you own a Galaxy C9 Pro, you will just have to be patient.

The Android 8.0 firmware for the Galaxy C9 Pro in China can be downloaded from our firmware section.

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