It seems the Galaxy S8 has gone a long way toward helping Samsung make it up to fans who were let down by the Galaxy Note 7. Thankfully for the Korean tech firm, the problems have been few so far since the launch, but it hasn’t been complete bliss, as some Galaxy S8 users are reporting problems with the Wi-Fi and wireless charging.
Samsung pushes out update to fix Wi-Fi problems
Apparently, not all Galaxy S8 users were affected by the Wi-Fi issues, but enough of them were for Samsung to push out an “urgent new software update” to correct them. The Wi-Fi problem was related to the Device Quality Agent, a component of the software, and it appeared for some Galaxy S8 users right after they downloaded a day-one patch, according to Android Central.
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Affected Galaxy S8 users were seeing an error pop up about every 30 to 60 seconds or so telling them, “DQA keeps stopping.” The Device Quality Agent is the part of the software that watches over the quality of the Wi-Fi on any given device. The only initial fixes were temporary: either disable the Wi-Fi on the device or force close the Device Quality Agent app.
Samsung identifies Wi-Fi issue
Thankfully though, Samsung was quick to respond with a permanent fix for those who were or are experiencing this Wi-Fi issue. Galaxy S8 users who haven’t yet downloaded and installed the urgent update yet are advised to do so quickly. Samsung started pushing out the update on April 24 through its Galaxy Apps Store.
The update may not be available to everyone yet, but it should eventually be pushed out to all devices as a permanent fix. Most of the affected devices were apparently in South Korea, as according to Redmond Pie, Samsung was able to track the Wi-Fi problem to a carrier’s wireless access point in South Korea. However, Android Central reports that some users in the U.S. and Canada started having problems after downloading the day-one software update, so it’s unclear whether the problem has become more widespread.
Samsung is also issuing a software update to fix the reddish tint many Galaxy S8 owners were also complaining about. This update should be rolled out more widely, given that it affects people everywhere rather than just those in Korea. The patch to correct the red-tint problem is expected to be some sort of added functionality to adjust the colors on the phone’s display.
No fix yet for wireless charging problems on Galaxy S8
According to Redmond Pie, some Galaxy S8 users are also having problems with the handset’s wireless charging feature. However, Samsung has not yet acknowledged that there is any problem with it. Some S8 owners are reportedly discovering that it will not charge wirelessly when they place it on an older charging pad. Generally, new devices are supposed to be backwards compatible with charging devices that were released before it, but apparently, this isn’t entirely the case with the S8.
A conversation thread on Samsung’s forums reveals that with some charging pads, the Galaxy S8 repeatedly blinks that charging has been paused. Charging the phone using the regular cable that comes with it works fine, so the problem seems to be entirely related to the wireless charging feature and how it doesn’t work with older charging pads. Some users said the same thing happened when the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge were released last year.
It’s unclear at this point whether a software update might be able to fix the problem or if users will be required to purchase a new charging pad to fix it. However, given that no Galaxy S8 handsets have exploded or caught fire yet, Samsung is definitely coming out ahead on this one, or at least so far. It seems likely that the company would be conservative with the charging functionality on this year’s phones because it definitely doesn’t want a repeat of what happened with the Note 7 last year.