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>If we look at the newest Android release (8.0, 8/2017), it looks like you’re quite lucky if you have a two year old device that will get the latest update. The

>If we look at the newest Android release (8.0, 8/2017), it looks like you’re quite lucky if you have a two year old device that will get the latest update. The oldest “Google” phone supported is the Nexus 6P (9/2015), giving it just under two years of support. And 2 years is the best-case scenario. Compare to nearly 5 years for iOS devices (which, as far as I can tell was prompted only by a move to 64-bit SoC). It's beyond me that Google hasn't taken a more extreme approach to keeping their devices up-to-date.

rocky1138 9y ago
They aren't Google devices. They're phones made by companies who downloaded and installed Android on them.
- sbierwagen 9y ago
  The Nexus 6P was developed and sold directly by Google: https://www.google.com/nexus/6p/ https://www.google.com/nexus/6p/
  - bhhaskin 9y ago
    The Nexus 6P was made by Huawei. Also usually it is not the manufacturer, but the carriers that hold up or stop updates.
  - rocky1138 9y ago
    Yes, I understand that Google do make some phones. I own one. But, the vast majority are not created by Google.
- abritinthebay 9y ago
  Even if this were true (it's not) that was a conscious choice by Google to capture market share. This issue was predicted (and observed) years ago, almost since the release of Android in fact, and is only getting worse. That is all due to Google's own choices.
  - kuschku 9y ago
    The real problem with it is Linux. Here's a few facts: The Kernel has no stable ABI for drivers. Manufacturers only ever develop a driver for their chips once, and then send that to the OEM. They never update. The Linux Kernel LTS gets 2 years of updates, Google's fork about 4. From the day a Kernel is released, to the day it ships in a phone, usually 2 years are spent integrating the blobs and code drops from the chip manufacturers. On every kernel upgrade that breaks the ABI, those 2 years would have to be redone from scratch. Linux can't mainline support for every exotic piece of hardware that ever shows up in a device. Manufacturers can't keep maintaining several developers to update every single chip they release. Google can't keep Android on 6 year old kernels forever. Now combine these facts, and you'll see the issue.
    - mjevans 9y ago
      That's only a problem because they're keeping driver support closed. If they contributed a driver for their hardware upstream it would be maintained (by others) as the internal interfaces and standards change. Whenever a security issue or design change happened, their driver would also get updated and fixed with the rest of the kernel. What the hardware manufacturers SHOULD do is create hardware with a well defined control interface that they CAN make public. Any 'secret sauce', uploaded firmware blobs, etc, should be free to re-distribute since they were too cheep to ship a ROM or EEPROM with the firmware for their device with the device.
      - kuschku 9y ago
        That's often not that simple. For example, SAMSUNG might build your device, and get all of their own code openly. But now for the US model, due to CDMA, they need to use a Qualcomm processor. That needs a blob, and Qualcomm won't release that under an open license, nor update it. So the OEM can either just not have CDMA support, or accept foreign blobs. It works like this all way down the stack, down to even camera chips. And then these devices all have custom hardware. Often hundreds of customly designed parts, with custom drivers, only ever for a single device. Think of the Moto Z Play, withthe replacable components. Samsung phones with facial scanners. LG phones with 3D display. One-off features that'd never get mainlined.
stevenwoo 9y ago
My Nexus 6P is eligible for 8.0 under the beta program, the last time I checked, 8.0 was still not available for it in the official channel so I had to switch to the beta program to try out 8.0 on a device.
- sls 9y ago
  Outside the US? My 6P got official 8.0 non-beta in September, I'm pretty sure. OTA, the whole nine yards.
  - stevenwoo 9y ago
    Inside the US. I push the check for updates button in October and it told me no. I might have declined once, though.
- tssva 9y ago
  8.0 has officially been available for the Nexus 6P since August.
  - stevenwoo 9y ago
    Thanks, exiting the beta program to see what happens now.
mrguyorama 9y ago
I bought a flagship device, a Motorola Droid Turbo (1). They finally got android 6 on it a few months ago. Even better is it's so locked down that I have no choice. This is a $1000 phone, why can't I install what I want on it?

rocky1138 9y ago

They aren't Google devices. They're phones made by companies who downloaded and installed Android on them.

sbierwagen 9y ago
The Nexus 6P was developed and sold directly by Google: https://www.google.com/nexus/6p/ https://www.google.com/nexus/6p/
- bhhaskin 9y ago
  The Nexus 6P was made by Huawei. Also usually it is not the manufacturer, but the carriers that hold up or stop updates.
- rocky1138 9y ago
  Yes, I understand that Google do make some phones. I own one. But, the vast majority are not created by Google.
abritinthebay 9y ago
Even if this were true (it's not) that was a conscious choice by Google to capture market share. This issue was predicted (and observed) years ago, almost since the release of Android in fact, and is only getting worse. That is all due to Google's own choices.
- kuschku 9y ago
  The real problem with it is Linux. Here's a few facts: The Kernel has no stable ABI for drivers. Manufacturers only ever develop a driver for their chips once, and then send that to the OEM. They never update. The Linux Kernel LTS gets 2 years of updates, Google's fork about 4. From the day a Kernel is released, to the day it ships in a phone, usually 2 years are spent integrating the blobs and code drops from the chip manufacturers. On every kernel upgrade that breaks the ABI, those 2 years would have to be redone from scratch. Linux can't mainline support for every exotic piece of hardware that ever shows up in a device. Manufacturers can't keep maintaining several developers to update every single chip they release. Google can't keep Android on 6 year old kernels forever. Now combine these facts, and you'll see the issue.
  - mjevans 9y ago
    That's only a problem because they're keeping driver support closed. If they contributed a driver for their hardware upstream it would be maintained (by others) as the internal interfaces and standards change. Whenever a security issue or design change happened, their driver would also get updated and fixed with the rest of the kernel. What the hardware manufacturers SHOULD do is create hardware with a well defined control interface that they CAN make public. Any 'secret sauce', uploaded firmware blobs, etc, should be free to re-distribute since they were too cheep to ship a ROM or EEPROM with the firmware for their device with the device.
    - kuschku 9y ago
      That's often not that simple. For example, SAMSUNG might build your device, and get all of their own code openly. But now for the US model, due to CDMA, they need to use a Qualcomm processor. That needs a blob, and Qualcomm won't release that under an open license, nor update it. So the OEM can either just not have CDMA support, or accept foreign blobs. It works like this all way down the stack, down to even camera chips. And then these devices all have custom hardware. Often hundreds of customly designed parts, with custom drivers, only ever for a single device. Think of the Moto Z Play, withthe replacable components. Samsung phones with facial scanners. LG phones with 3D display. One-off features that'd never get mainlined.

stevenwoo 9y ago

My Nexus 6P is eligible for 8.0 under the beta program, the last time I checked, 8.0 was still not available for it in the official channel so I had to switch to the beta program to try out 8.0 on a device.

sls 9y ago
Outside the US? My 6P got official 8.0 non-beta in September, I'm pretty sure. OTA, the whole nine yards.
- stevenwoo 9y ago
  Inside the US. I push the check for updates button in October and it told me no. I might have declined once, though.
tssva 9y ago
8.0 has officially been available for the Nexus 6P since August.
- stevenwoo 9y ago
  Thanks, exiting the beta program to see what happens now.

mrguyorama 9y ago

I bought a flagship device, a Motorola Droid Turbo (1). They finally got android 6 on it a few months ago. Even better is it's so locked down that I have no choice. This is a $1000 phone, why can't I install what I want on it?