Android 7.0 Nougat smartphone rollouts begin as LG updates G5
Android 6.0 Nougat debuts on Google's Android distribution chart.
The wider rollout of Android 6.0 Nougat has finally begun, with LG's 2016 G5 becoming the first device besides Google's Nexus handsets to receive Android 7.0 Nougat.
The Korean firm kicked off its global rollout of Android 7.0 Nougat to its flagship G5 smartphones, starting with owners on its home turf.
Korean G5 owners will see a Nougat upgrade notification today, while owners in the Americas, Asia, and other markets will have to wait a "few weeks" following completion of the usual carrier testing phase.
The rollout makes LG the first Android handset maker besides Google to deliver the newest version of Android to existing devices running Marshmallow. LG's new V20 is also the first new phone other than Google's new Pixel handsets to run Nougat.
Android 7.0 has for the first time showed up on Google's Android distribution chart following its release in October.
Google doesn't show versions of Android with less than 0.1 percent share but as of this week Nougat has appeared with a 0.3 percent share of all Android versions hitting Google Play during the seven days ending on November 7.
The three dominant versions of Android are now Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Android 5.0/5.1 Lollipop, and Android 4.4 KitKat.
Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which is still shipping on newly launched handsets, is up 5.3 percentage points from October to 24 percent, while Lollipop now accounts for 34.1 percent, and KitKat accounts for 25.2 percent.
Nougat's share should rise further in coming months once Samsung completes beta testing Nougat with Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge owners. Samsung is selecting participants in the US, UK, South Korea, and China for the program, which according to Sammobile, starts on November 9.