4 ms·

Part of the reason for slow updates may be that new versions of Android really aren't bringing a lot of user-visible new features anymore. Android 10 brought

Part of the reason for slow updates may be that new versions of Android really aren't bringing a lot of user-visible new features anymore. Android 10 brought dark mode (which is still only supported by a small subset of Android apps), but not much more that the end user can see. Are the users still "languishing" in Android Pie really clamoring for Android 10?

whalabi 7y ago
I think the rate of change has slowed somewhat in terms of big visible changes. Although 10 dramatically improved gesture navigation, afaik.
muro 7y ago
There are privacy improvements.
- McDev 7y ago
  The ability to allow apps to use your location only while you're using the app is particularly useful. iOS has had this for a while now.
cwyers 7y ago
Users don't really choose when updates are available for their phones, so I'm not sure that this explains a lot.
- srcmap 7y ago
  Most users probably want security update. I believe it is hardware vendors that don't want to support update. It is a lot of works (costs) for them with little and no return. It might even be negative returns since a phone with updated OS might delay that user purchase a new phone every 1-2 years.
franga2000 7y ago
Oh but there are user-visible changes - just not good ones. Good and useful features are destroyed every update: Miracast, system backups, a whole bunch of widely-used APIs are crippled (SMS, WiFi scanning, drawing on top, clipboard...) to give Google's apps an advantage... That, along with some really bad UI changes, makes people dislike updates and/or actively avoid them.
blue_devil 7y ago
The lagging updates has nothing to do with users, it's a corollary of Google having strategically chosen to build a fragmented ecosystem, whereas Apple built their walled off garden. Apple can incentivise updates much better because they control the whole ecosystem. To achieve this, Google would need to somehow _force_ OEMs to update Android, but the fragmentation makes this a herculean task.
- jmfayard 7y ago
  It's not Apple vs Google. Google has a second operating system, Chrome OS, and that team does a very nice job at keeping all the Chromebook up-to-date. It's one of those old early Android mistakes that were never really fixed. I think the root issue is that they were never even fully acknowledged. I wrote about this here: https://dev.to/jmfayard/android-s-billion-dollar-mistake-327b https://dev.to/jmfayard/android-s-billion-dollar-mistake-327...
- murgindrag 7y ago
  As opposed to computers running Windows? or Ubuntu? More fragmented than Android. Continuous updates even for hardware from the year 2000 (a few paid along the way).
  - AdrianB1 7y ago
    Actually Windows and Ubuntu are not a good example because the end user can easily perform updates without the computer manufacturer having anything to say. I would upgrade my mom's Android 8 phone, but I cannot. It is not the fragmentation, it's who's in control of the updates.
    - cookiecaper 7y ago
      Heh, after years of prodding, my mom finally gave up her Android 4.4 phone last month. Instagram stopped allowing her to sign in from it. It was replaced by a Pixel 3, which no longer allows her to easily set up her third-party ringtone app among a plethora of other annoyances and disappointments. "This is why I never want to get new phones or computers" was muttered probably about 15 times in the two hours I was helping her salvage content from the older device.
dredmorbius 7y ago
I bought, very unaware at the time of the tots redic state of Android updates, a brand new, 9 months from release, Samsung Androd tablet. The release of Android (5.x) was obsolute at initial product release. There has been no update. There is no update path. The device is locked down to the point that I have been unable to root or re-ROM it. I'd been under the impression at purchase time that 1) OEM updates would be provided, 2) rooting was possible, and 3) re-ROMing was an option. All three beliefs proved false. Samsung are directly to blame. But Google can fix this. Google haven't. Google aren't. Google can pleasure itself.

whalabi 7y ago

I think the rate of change has slowed somewhat in terms of big visible changes. Although 10 dramatically improved gesture navigation, afaik.

muro 7y ago

There are privacy improvements.

McDev 7y ago
The ability to allow apps to use your location only while you're using the app is particularly useful. iOS has had this for a while now.

cwyers 7y ago

Users don't really choose when updates are available for their phones, so I'm not sure that this explains a lot.

srcmap 7y ago
Most users probably want security update. I believe it is hardware vendors that don't want to support update. It is a lot of works (costs) for them with little and no return. It might even be negative returns since a phone with updated OS might delay that user purchase a new phone every 1-2 years.

franga2000 7y ago

Oh but there are user-visible changes - just not good ones. Good and useful features are destroyed every update: Miracast, system backups, a whole bunch of widely-used APIs are crippled (SMS, WiFi scanning, drawing on top, clipboard...) to give Google's apps an advantage... That, along with some really bad UI changes, makes people dislike updates and/or actively avoid them.

blue_devil 7y ago

The lagging updates has nothing to do with users, it's a corollary of Google having strategically chosen to build a fragmented ecosystem, whereas Apple built their walled off garden. Apple can incentivise updates much better because they control the whole ecosystem. To achieve this, Google would need to somehow _force_ OEMs to update Android, but the fragmentation makes this a herculean task.

jmfayard 7y ago
It's not Apple vs Google. Google has a second operating system, Chrome OS, and that team does a very nice job at keeping all the Chromebook up-to-date. It's one of those old early Android mistakes that were never really fixed. I think the root issue is that they were never even fully acknowledged. I wrote about this here: https://dev.to/jmfayard/android-s-billion-dollar-mistake-327b https://dev.to/jmfayard/android-s-billion-dollar-mistake-327...
murgindrag 7y ago
As opposed to computers running Windows? or Ubuntu? More fragmented than Android. Continuous updates even for hardware from the year 2000 (a few paid along the way).
- AdrianB1 7y ago
  Actually Windows and Ubuntu are not a good example because the end user can easily perform updates without the computer manufacturer having anything to say. I would upgrade my mom's Android 8 phone, but I cannot. It is not the fragmentation, it's who's in control of the updates.
  - cookiecaper 7y ago
    Heh, after years of prodding, my mom finally gave up her Android 4.4 phone last month. Instagram stopped allowing her to sign in from it. It was replaced by a Pixel 3, which no longer allows her to easily set up her third-party ringtone app among a plethora of other annoyances and disappointments. "This is why I never want to get new phones or computers" was muttered probably about 15 times in the two hours I was helping her salvage content from the older device.

dredmorbius 7y ago

I bought, very unaware at the time of the tots redic state of Android updates, a brand new, 9 months from release, Samsung Androd tablet. The release of Android (5.x) was obsolute at initial product release. There has been no update. There is no update path. The device is locked down to the point that I have been unable to root or re-ROM it. I'd been under the impression at purchase time that 1) OEM updates would be provided, 2) rooting was possible, and 3) re-ROMing was an option. All three beliefs proved false. Samsung are directly to blame. But Google can fix this. Google haven't. Google aren't. Google can pleasure itself.