4 ms·

You don't mention a big part of the puzzle : security updates. Given the current state of infosec, any OS that has not received any security update for a year

You don't mention a big part of the puzzle : security updates. Given the current state of infosec, any OS that has not received any security update for a year or two is doomed to become a sitting duck for malware. Device security is a whack-a-mole game where new vulnerabilities are found daily and security updates are the only way we have to keep our computers secure. In a perfect world, UI-and-features-related updates would be optional while security updates would be seamless. Also in a perfect world, older OS releases would receive long term security support and you should not have to upgrade to a more recent release to be secure. Alas, we do not live in a perfect world. Apple doesn't provide any easy way to accept security updates but refusing others. Android just doesn't seem to provide a seamless update experience, either for security updates or not. So you should really apply security updates, and if it takes getting other updates for that, then so be it.

Intermernet 7y ago
The Venn diagram of security updates and UI / UX updates has some intersection, but I agree that they should be as separate as possible. If I were in control of the Android update release cycle I'd try to force this separation, but I'm sure it's more complex than it seems. Still, the ideal, as ever, probably lies somewhere between the status quo and my over simplified dream!
AdrianB1 7y ago
If you are Apple, you cannot ignore the security updates. If you are one of the 100 small vendors that sells some cheap Android phones, you offer no support and nobody will complain. If most of the Android phones have no updates, the entire market will not provide security updates, except a few flagship models where Samsung and a few more top manufacturers will have to do it to maintain the brand equity. This way you get to live in a world where "no updates" is the norm and there is no incentive to change that: the people buying $100 phones will not care about updates that they don't understand, but will increase the price by $10-20. When sub-$200 market is 80-90% of the market by volume the gold standard of no updates is set.

Intermernet 7y ago

The Venn diagram of security updates and UI / UX updates has some intersection, but I agree that they should be as separate as possible. If I were in control of the Android update release cycle I'd try to force this separation, but I'm sure it's more complex than it seems. Still, the ideal, as ever, probably lies somewhere between the status quo and my over simplified dream!

AdrianB1 7y ago

If you are Apple, you cannot ignore the security updates. If you are one of the 100 small vendors that sells some cheap Android phones, you offer no support and nobody will complain. If most of the Android phones have no updates, the entire market will not provide security updates, except a few flagship models where Samsung and a few more top manufacturers will have to do it to maintain the brand equity. This way you get to live in a world where "no updates" is the norm and there is no incentive to change that: the people buying $100 phones will not care about updates that they don't understand, but will increase the price by $10-20. When sub-$200 market is 80-90% of the market by volume the gold standard of no updates is set.