[UPDATE: HMD replies] Nokia 8 gets stable Android 9 Pie but the major features are missing

UPDATE #1 December 20, 2018 06:10PM IST: Please refer to the end of the article for the update

We have time and again praised HMD Global for the way it handles updates. The company keeps its entire roster of 18 phones up to date with the latest monthly security patches and the major Android updates are rolled out in a timely manner too. Last year, HMD made a commitment of updating its entire portfolio of devices to Android Pie. The Nokia 6.1/Plus, the Nokia 7 Plus and the Nokia 7.1 have already received the Android 9 update, and now the Nokia 8 is getting the same.

The first Pie beta for the Nokia 8 was released just last week, so it's a bit surprising that the stable update is rolling out this quickly. To add on to the surprise, several of the core features of Pie, such as App Actions, Adaptive Battery and Digitial Wellbeing, are nowhere to be seen after installing the update. Having praised HMD for updates above, I'm surprised that the company had the courage to release a half-baked Pie update. I hope HMD corrects this and rolls out an update that adds the missing Pie functionalities.

Enjoy the festivities with another fresh piece of 🥧 from us - this time on Nokia 8! Phased roll out of #Android 9 Pie for #Nokia8 starts today.

— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) December 19, 2018

For those of you interested in installing the update, the phased rollout of the update will start today. In a phased rollout, a computer randomly selects a group of devices to which the update has to be sent in the first phase. The group size is increased for each subsequent phase until the update has been made available to everyone. Thus the Pie update may take a while to show up on your Nokia 8. The beta users will also be getting the stable update.

UPDATE #1 December 20, 2018 06:10PM IST

In a statement to Nokiapoweruser, HMD has confirmed that App Actions and Digital Wellbeing won't be coming to the Nokia 8 since these are Android One exclusive features (note that Nokia 8 is not an Android One device). HMD, though, says that it is working with Google to make the two features available to devices outside the Android One program. Coming to Adaptive Battery, HMD says that the feature further needs fine-tuning to work perfectly with the Nokia 8. The feature is expected to land on the Nokia 8 via a software update in January/February. Lastly, HMD has said that gesture navigation won't be made available on the Nokia 8 because the smartphone has capacitive keys for navigation.

Krittin Kalra

Krittin Kalra is a 20 year old Android freak. Striving for passions, chasing down his dreams and living a life without regrets is his sole mantra. A bit moody, he also does custom ROM reviews for AndroGuider. Currently pursuing his B.Tech, he aspires to follow his heart.