Releases for other Galaxy-badged smartphones will come "soon," the company added. Earlier scheduling had pegged Note 8 and S8/S8 Plus updates arriving in February and March respectively, although hat doesn't guarantee you'll get your particular upgrade that month.

The Pie update is one of Samsung's largest in recent memory. Its centerpiece, One UI, is an acknowledgment that the company's custom take on Android needed some simplification, not to mention optimization for ever-growing smartphone screens. Samsung believes it's cleaner, more focused and more intuitive. It's also going to play an important role in the Galaxy S10 and other phones released in 2019. While the hardware will likely remain the star of the show, the software should be more of a selling point than it has in recent years.