Starting to feel left behind

In early 2020, I bought a Galaxy S7 from the e.foundation. While the functionality of the phone is basically OK there are a number of things that make me think this phone is getting left behind. Here is a little list :

  1. The phone is no longer sold by the foundation
  2. OS updates have been coming along but the phone remains on Android 7 - perhaps it will never get to 8 or beyond ?
  3. Apps generally do not autorotate. Portrait mode works fine but landscape mode is rarely available. Strangely, if you open the photo app it immediately autorotates to landscape mode. Then various other apps can be opened and used in landscape mode. But without this “workaround” it generally does not seem possible to use the phone in landscape mode. (I have reported this in a previous post). Subsequent upgrades have not progressed the issue.
  4. If you minimize and then maximize the Authpass app, it does not re-request the access password. If the app is accidentally left in operation but out of view anyone who picks up the phone can view all the passwords.
  5. The appstore application “apps” crashes intermittently when updating apps. For example, Intermittently the StopCovid app either refuses to update or crashes the appstore.

While these are negatives or irritants, the OS remains impressive for an opensource effort. I would just like to see a bit more polish and especially a fix for the autorotate problem.

Hello @jackahearts, one detail :
Since this summer (2020), the s7 run official Oreo or unofficial Pie.
Since this winter (2021), the s7 can run unofficial Q.
We hope the official upgrade will coming soon…

Thanks for this encouraging news. My phone is running the recently released system version 0.15-20210317106380, dated 17 March, still has the autorotate problem and is still reporting Android version 7.1.2. If an upgrade to Oreo is officially available, I don’t see how to get the upgrade. Can someone enlighten me ?

We are working on making it possible to upgrade the OS via OTA updates. This development is as yet not complete. You will find details in the weekly development updates published here.

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You can install OREO from nougat (OS you are currently running). Since you have a pre installed S7, you can upgrade without PC using only TWRP which is already there.

Key combination to run recovery mode on S7 =

  • device powered off, hold Volume Up + Home + Power
  • When the blue text appears, release the buttons

0- Remove screen lock, backup your phone, etc…
Download the ZIP file in your Download directory from https://images.ecloud.global/dev/herolte/
Check md5 checksum file. File manager “amaze” is able to compute the MD5 (properties).

1- Switch off the device and start TWRP-Recovery (key combination)
2- Select “Install” in TWRP Recovery

“Select Storage” → “Internal Storage” → OK
Change to the directory /sdcard/Download

3- choose your zip (e.g. e-0.15-o-20210313105776-dev-herolte.zip)

“Swipe ro confirm Flash”
After a successful installation → “Wipe cache/dalvik”

Now the system can be restarted via Reboot → System

This is what I have done. I haven’t yet jumped to Pie or Q.
Good luck!

Any news about an official upgrade of galaxy S7 (OTA or not) to Pie or Q ?
Thanks.