4 ms·

This is one of the biggest reasons I’m a loyal iPhone user. I experienced this first-hand when my iPhone 5 still received updates for a year after Google’s Nexu

by kbd 6y ago

This is one of the biggest reasons I’m a loyal iPhone user. I experienced this first-hand when my iPhone 5 still received updates for a year after Google’s Nexus 7 tablet despite the Nexus 7 having come out two years later. And the Nexus tablet stopped being able to charge... Phones that cost $1000+ are fine when you can keep them for 5+ years.

Zenst 6y ago
I have to agree, Apple when it comes to updates and how long they support devices do put Android offering to shame.
- levosmetalo 6y ago
  Well, for that money you can buy multiple Android phones and never ever run a two year old phone anymore.
  - hodder 6y ago
    Flagship? No. If you want an iphone level phone it basically costs you iphone level dollars whether you want Android or an iphone. Of course you can buy a cheap phone, but for a 1K phone I expect support for more than 3 years or I wont buy it. That is one thing keeping me from switching back to Android. I likely never will with the preloaded crapware and lack of support.
    - scarface74 6y ago
      If you want iPhone level performance - even that of a $399 SE, you can’t find it an Android at any cost....
  - joking 6y ago
    Would you buy a chevrolet spark every year, Or a camaro and maintain it during 4 years?
    - Yetanfou 6y ago
      I'd buy a Skoda, VW and a Toyota and maintain them for at least 10 years. The Skoda is the Xiaomi Redmi 5, the VW is the Motorola Defy and the Toyota is the Samsung SIII. They vary in age between 2 (Xiaomi), 8 (Samsung) and almost 10 years (Motorola), 2 of them (Xiaomi and Samsung) run the latest version of Android, the Motorola is stuck at Android 4.4 due to a locked bootloader. All of them work fine. Buying the 3 of them costs less than buying a single iPhone. They last longer than any iPhone due to the possibility to update the OS as long as there are developers working on the device. The 8yo Samsung gets weekly OTA updates (which I do not always install...).
  - emsy 6y ago
    Sure, our children will thank us for creating a rotting pile of perfectly working devices because the manufacturer can’t be bothered to upgrade the software.
  - GeekyBear 6y ago
    The original iPhone SE which sold for for $399 is starting it's sixth year of OS and security updates. That's less than $70 per supported year.
- cma 6y ago
  After updating a brand new ipad from 12.x to ipad os 13, Safari tabs started crashing all the time. I got a replacement unit and it did the same thing. Tried out ipad os 14 and the whole device reboots frequently, usually if a tab plays any kind of video. On their bug reporting app, switching apps while having a bug report half filled-in in order to e.g. check which URL caused a recent crash, will immediately throw the bug reporting app out of memory and lose your half-entered bug report. Updates within months of getting a brand new device (on the low end RAM-wise), seem to have completely ruined it. People have told me to buy one with more RAM and most issues would be resolved, but I don't want to throw in more money for uncertainty.
  - jooize 6y ago
    I have made a couple of bug reports regarding Feedback Assistant losing my report. I don't understand why immortalizing user input isn't a higher priority in general. I no longer trust that iOS devices will not suddenly lose unsaved content. Apple has failed me with its memory management on both iPhone X and iPhone 7 with iOS 13 (and earlier), so I refute that spending more money will solve it, though it may help.
joking 6y ago
I wouldn't consider mysel a loyal iphone user, but this argument is one of things that tip the balance in favour of iphone, nowadays you really don't need new os updates to get the latest features on android as many are bundled inside the infamous google services, but some years ago, watching how new features rolled out to almost any iphone while the androids get those features slowly, was a dissapoinment.
wayneftw 6y ago
Sure, iOS gets updated but the app store won’t let you download old versions of things while new versions are incompatible resulting in a useless device. I now have an old iPhone and an iPad that both run great, but I can’t do anything useful with them.
- GeekyBear 6y ago
  >the app store won’t let you download old versions of things Any app that you have previously downloaded can be downloaded again while viewing your purchase history (which includes free apps). For apps you never downloaded in the past, you would need to download the current version of the app on another device first. You will receive the last version of the app that was compatible with that device. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq1cmTfJq-M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq1cmTfJq-M
  - wayneftw 6y ago
    Ohhh, that's a great trick. Thanks!
    - GeekyBear 6y ago
      You're welcome
- scarface74 6y ago
  Yes it will and it has done so since around 2013. I rediscovered an old iPad 1 a couple of years ago. I reset it and downloaded Netflix, Hulu, and Crackle. A big pop up shows up giving you the option of downloading “the last compatible version”. The catch is that if you have never downloaded the app before, you don’t get that option. You either have to initiate the download first on a newer device or use a version of iTunes that supports app downloads. You don’t have to sync from iTunes. Just download the app.
eurue7ueuud 6y ago
Honestly it just sounds like you're not a heavy mobile phone user if you're only upgrading every five years. It might not be worth it to you or the "my phone is just a phone" crowd but for the mass of users for whom their phone is their primary computer three years syncs almost perfectly with when a person who bought high-end is going to start feeling the age of their phone.

by kbd 6y ago

Zenst 6y ago

I have to agree, Apple when it comes to updates and how long they support devices do put Android offering to shame.

levosmetalo 6y ago
Well, for that money you can buy multiple Android phones and never ever run a two year old phone anymore.
- hodder 6y ago
  Flagship? No. If you want an iphone level phone it basically costs you iphone level dollars whether you want Android or an iphone. Of course you can buy a cheap phone, but for a 1K phone I expect support for more than 3 years or I wont buy it. That is one thing keeping me from switching back to Android. I likely never will with the preloaded crapware and lack of support.
  - scarface74 6y ago
    If you want iPhone level performance - even that of a $399 SE, you can’t find it an Android at any cost....
- joking 6y ago
  Would you buy a chevrolet spark every year, Or a camaro and maintain it during 4 years?
  - Yetanfou 6y ago
    I'd buy a Skoda, VW and a Toyota and maintain them for at least 10 years. The Skoda is the Xiaomi Redmi 5, the VW is the Motorola Defy and the Toyota is the Samsung SIII. They vary in age between 2 (Xiaomi), 8 (Samsung) and almost 10 years (Motorola), 2 of them (Xiaomi and Samsung) run the latest version of Android, the Motorola is stuck at Android 4.4 due to a locked bootloader. All of them work fine. Buying the 3 of them costs less than buying a single iPhone. They last longer than any iPhone due to the possibility to update the OS as long as there are developers working on the device. The 8yo Samsung gets weekly OTA updates (which I do not always install...).
- emsy 6y ago
  Sure, our children will thank us for creating a rotting pile of perfectly working devices because the manufacturer can’t be bothered to upgrade the software.
- GeekyBear 6y ago
  The original iPhone SE which sold for for $399 is starting it's sixth year of OS and security updates. That's less than $70 per supported year.
cma 6y ago
After updating a brand new ipad from 12.x to ipad os 13, Safari tabs started crashing all the time. I got a replacement unit and it did the same thing. Tried out ipad os 14 and the whole device reboots frequently, usually if a tab plays any kind of video. On their bug reporting app, switching apps while having a bug report half filled-in in order to e.g. check which URL caused a recent crash, will immediately throw the bug reporting app out of memory and lose your half-entered bug report. Updates within months of getting a brand new device (on the low end RAM-wise), seem to have completely ruined it. People have told me to buy one with more RAM and most issues would be resolved, but I don't want to throw in more money for uncertainty.
- jooize 6y ago
  I have made a couple of bug reports regarding Feedback Assistant losing my report. I don't understand why immortalizing user input isn't a higher priority in general. I no longer trust that iOS devices will not suddenly lose unsaved content. Apple has failed me with its memory management on both iPhone X and iPhone 7 with iOS 13 (and earlier), so I refute that spending more money will solve it, though it may help.

joking 6y ago

I wouldn't consider mysel a loyal iphone user, but this argument is one of things that tip the balance in favour of iphone, nowadays you really don't need new os updates to get the latest features on android as many are bundled inside the infamous google services, but some years ago, watching how new features rolled out to almost any iphone while the androids get those features slowly, was a dissapoinment.

wayneftw 6y ago

Sure, iOS gets updated but the app store won’t let you download old versions of things while new versions are incompatible resulting in a useless device. I now have an old iPhone and an iPad that both run great, but I can’t do anything useful with them.

GeekyBear 6y ago
>the app store won’t let you download old versions of things Any app that you have previously downloaded can be downloaded again while viewing your purchase history (which includes free apps). For apps you never downloaded in the past, you would need to download the current version of the app on another device first. You will receive the last version of the app that was compatible with that device. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq1cmTfJq-M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq1cmTfJq-M
- wayneftw 6y ago
  Ohhh, that's a great trick. Thanks!
  - GeekyBear 6y ago
    You're welcome
scarface74 6y ago
Yes it will and it has done so since around 2013. I rediscovered an old iPad 1 a couple of years ago. I reset it and downloaded Netflix, Hulu, and Crackle. A big pop up shows up giving you the option of downloading “the last compatible version”. The catch is that if you have never downloaded the app before, you don’t get that option. You either have to initiate the download first on a newer device or use a version of iTunes that supports app downloads. You don’t have to sync from iTunes. Just download the app.

eurue7ueuud 6y ago

Honestly it just sounds like you're not a heavy mobile phone user if you're only upgrading every five years. It might not be worth it to you or the "my phone is just a phone" crowd but for the mass of users for whom their phone is their primary computer three years syncs almost perfectly with when a person who bought high-end is going to start feeling the age of their phone.