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IOS 4.3.3: All Users In 1 Week; Android 2.3: 4% Of Users In 5 Months

11 points by ssclafani 15y ago

simonsarris 15y ago
The stats in the title are interesting in their own right, but the article itself reads like an advertisement. The author seems to be flabbergasted by the fact that android devices and the decisions surrounding them are not made by a single company. Walled gardens have their perks. More open ecosystems have their own perks, they're just different.
- potatolicious 15y ago
  I think the author's point is that Android users aren't really even getting the "open" perk in exchange for the "fast updates" perk - as evidenced by Google's capitulation to carriers on tethering. The way I read it, his point is that it seems (for the end user) things are just as closed as iOS, and you don't even get the updates. Personally I think this is going to be the Android issue to come. Apple customers can expect significant upgrades to the functionality of their phone over the lifetime of the device, Android users cannot even expect bugs to get fixed. WP7 users... I'm not sure they can really expect anything.
  - kstenerud 15y ago
    Both Apple and Google are chipping away at the carriers. You can't just throw ultimatums at the big players in the arena and expect them to say "Oh ok. We'll make it all open, sure!". Apple has capitulated on a number of issues. So has Google. But you know what? We now have phones that are orders of magnitude more open than they've ever been thanks to the quid-pro-quo of those two pioneering companies. Google initially came on too strong, but found they didn't have the clout to push the level of openness they wanted, and so now they're taking a gentler approach. The carriers need to see a benefit to themselves before they move, and even then they'll move very slowly. Google and Apple know this, which is why they apply pressure gently and steadily. They understand and exploit the politics, which is why they are so successful. The proof is in the pudding. Just look at the market share.
aristidb 15y ago
The Desire HD and other devices are getting upgrades to 2.3 these days. New flagship devices like the SGS II have it too. So it won't stay 4%. I hope that device manufacturers have improved their processes, and are able to ship updates sooner from now on. If you are not sure about that, and want Android, just get a Nexus S.
vl 15y ago
It's not surprising since there is an incentive for device manufacturers and carriers not to push an update: more new device sales.
seabee 15y ago
If you want Google to update your phone, buy Google's phone. It would seem obvious that OEM phones are ultimately under the control of the OEMs (and the carriers); it has always been this way. I don't see Android getting updates in the same way a Windows PC receives them until, like the PC, OEMs allow phones to be commoditized and users don't have to root them to install a new OS.
- potatolicious 15y ago
  > "It would seem obvious that OEM phones are ultimately under the control of the OEMs (and the carriers)" I'd argue this is not at all obvious to lay users. The marketing for Android devices is plastered with its name and logo. Not to mention, users are used to the PC ecosystem - your Dell Windows machine gets updates from Microsoft. So why doesn't your Samsung Android phone get updates from Google? The reality is that, for many reasons, the OEMs and carriers have a death grip on device updates, but IMO this is entirely opposite to consumer expectation, and Apple will continue to ride this point to the bank until someone steps up and fixes it. This reminds me of the way laptop video cards used to be. Your NVidia chipset (that your OEM has no problems advertising and slapping stickers on) will never get an update from NVidia. You have to get updated drivers from your OEM only. Naturally video cards never got updated, resulting in a gigantic compatibility nightmare. Eventually NVidia got the OEMs in line and now issues updates themselves. Google must do this if it wants Android as an ecosystem to have a future.
Xuzz 15y ago
Well, there is one issue: iOS 4.3.3 can never reach 100% penetration. The iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G don't get iOS 4.3.x, so they'll never get the "tracking" issue resolved, unless they jailbreak (voids warranty and unsuppoted). There are comparatively less of those devices out there at this point, but it's still a significant amount of devices. Eventually, Apple will have to resolve this. Not everyone updates their device every two years, and the number of each model they leave behind just keeps increasing. (This is similar to the fix for the browser-based jailbreak (JailbreakMe): the original iPhone and iPod touch will always be vulnerable, unless they use the fix available once jailbroken.)

11 points by ssclafani 15y ago

The stats in the title are interesting in their own right, but the article itself reads like an advertisement. The author seems to be flabbergasted by the fact that android devices and the decisions surrounding them are not made by a single company. Walled gardens have their perks. More open ecosystems have their own perks, they're just different.

potatolicious 15y ago
I think the author's point is that Android users aren't really even getting the "open" perk in exchange for the "fast updates" perk - as evidenced by Google's capitulation to carriers on tethering. The way I read it, his point is that it seems (for the end user) things are just as closed as iOS, and you don't even get the updates. Personally I think this is going to be the Android issue to come. Apple customers can expect significant upgrades to the functionality of their phone over the lifetime of the device, Android users cannot even expect bugs to get fixed. WP7 users... I'm not sure they can really expect anything.
- kstenerud 15y ago
  Both Apple and Google are chipping away at the carriers. You can't just throw ultimatums at the big players in the arena and expect them to say "Oh ok. We'll make it all open, sure!". Apple has capitulated on a number of issues. So has Google. But you know what? We now have phones that are orders of magnitude more open than they've ever been thanks to the quid-pro-quo of those two pioneering companies. Google initially came on too strong, but found they didn't have the clout to push the level of openness they wanted, and so now they're taking a gentler approach. The carriers need to see a benefit to themselves before they move, and even then they'll move very slowly. Google and Apple know this, which is why they apply pressure gently and steadily. They understand and exploit the politics, which is why they are so successful. The proof is in the pudding. Just look at the market share.

aristidb 15y ago

The Desire HD and other devices are getting upgrades to 2.3 these days. New flagship devices like the SGS II have it too. So it won't stay 4%. I hope that device manufacturers have improved their processes, and are able to ship updates sooner from now on. If you are not sure about that, and want Android, just get a Nexus S.

vl 15y ago

It's not surprising since there is an incentive for device manufacturers and carriers not to push an update: more new device sales.

seabee 15y ago

If you want Google to update your phone, buy Google's phone. It would seem obvious that OEM phones are ultimately under the control of the OEMs (and the carriers); it has always been this way. I don't see Android getting updates in the same way a Windows PC receives them until, like the PC, OEMs allow phones to be commoditized and users don't have to root them to install a new OS.

potatolicious 15y ago
> "It would seem obvious that OEM phones are ultimately under the control of the OEMs (and the carriers)" I'd argue this is not at all obvious to lay users. The marketing for Android devices is plastered with its name and logo. Not to mention, users are used to the PC ecosystem - your Dell Windows machine gets updates from Microsoft. So why doesn't your Samsung Android phone get updates from Google? The reality is that, for many reasons, the OEMs and carriers have a death grip on device updates, but IMO this is entirely opposite to consumer expectation, and Apple will continue to ride this point to the bank until someone steps up and fixes it. This reminds me of the way laptop video cards used to be. Your NVidia chipset (that your OEM has no problems advertising and slapping stickers on) will never get an update from NVidia. You have to get updated drivers from your OEM only. Naturally video cards never got updated, resulting in a gigantic compatibility nightmare. Eventually NVidia got the OEMs in line and now issues updates themselves. Google must do this if it wants Android as an ecosystem to have a future.

Xuzz 15y ago

Well, there is one issue: iOS 4.3.3 can never reach 100% penetration. The iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G don't get iOS 4.3.x, so they'll never get the "tracking" issue resolved, unless they jailbreak (voids warranty and unsuppoted). There are comparatively less of those devices out there at this point, but it's still a significant amount of devices. Eventually, Apple will have to resolve this. Not everyone updates their device every two years, and the number of each model they leave behind just keeps increasing. (This is similar to the fix for the browser-based jailbreak (JailbreakMe): the original iPhone and iPod touch will always be vulnerable, unless they use the fix available once jailbroken.)