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Anyone else just stopped keeping track of what version of Android their phone is on? I used to know this stuff, but these days couldn't care less.

by nly 5y ago

TOMDM 5y ago
For real. For me smartphones are just good enough. They all take nice pictures, they're all fast enough, they all have a nice screen, nice touch controls and nice UI. It just doesn't matter as much anymore. The only thing on here that made me go "oh cool" is the extra dim mode, my 4a really likes scorching my retinas at night.
- inglor_cz 5y ago
  I am almost with you, but there are some things I appreciate: a. A better quality of pictures even in less-than-perfectly lit scenes. This matters indoors or in the gloomier months of the year. b. As you mentioned, an extra dim, or on the other hand extra bright, mode of the screen. Trying to orient yourself in blazing midday sun is a horror with some screens. c. Fast charging is something I thoroughly enjoy.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- danellis 5y ago
  The dictation looks really good. The main reason I don't use it currently, even though it would be the most natural way to enter text, is that I want my text to have punctuation without me having to be explicit about it. Looking forward to trying this eventually. Also, given that they have translation and live transcription of videos, live translation of videos was the next logical step. I hope it's available for all audio sources.
  - asmos7 5y ago
    that's a good point - shouldn't it include that out of the box? must be hard to accomplish
- hammyhavoc 5y ago
  How are you doing in terms of security patches? On a Nokia 5.3 in the Android One certified program, and it's still on the May 2021 security patch. Go figure.
  - TOMDM 5y ago
    Well, given I have a pixel, I'm pretty good on patches. I wish google patched their devices for longer, I'd happilly only update every 5-6 years these days, but security doesn't allow for it.
- lostmsu 5y ago
  I stopped caring after Google axed speech recognition when the screen is off on older devices with an update. Now it is a gamble I have to play because of security updates. IMO, one of the recent updates brought nice feature to AOSP and therefore all vendors: navigation via swipes.
TrueGeek 5y ago
It's nice for Google to announce the new version, but it's up to the carrier to decide if I can have it, I guess. And when.
ChuckNorris89 5y ago
I would like to. But the usability and quality of life improvements on each new version of Android are pretty tangible. I went back to my trusty old OP3 running Android 9 I think, for a bit, and the overall experience took a hit. Everything felt kinda clunky now coming from Android 11, even though I always loved the clean Android implementation of the OP3.
hulitu 5y ago
Since 6.0 there were no real changes in android. It will be better if they just concentrate on fixing bugs instead of claiming something was done.
45ure 5y ago
It becomes even more irrelevant, where UI enhancements have already been implemented by manufacturers to improve their OS. For example, Samsung OneUI with Good Lock (Multistar, Navstar,Notistar, Quickstar, Home Up, Clockface) One Hand Operation+, Sound Assistant etc. I am looking forward to how some of the features will be incorporated/improved in the new version(OneUI 4), rather than the stock features of Android 12.
bko 5y ago
I've been underwhelmed by recent mobile updates. Maybe I'm missing something but the stuff that sticks out is oh, this rectangle is rounded now. New clock face, okay. I guess floating notifications, but even that is meh. Facebook had those annoying floating faces 5 years ago I do remember when they were trying to push touchless gestures (e.g. changing the spotify song by waving your hand) which is a perfect example of a feature that pretty much no one wanted. I imagine google had to pay spotify to include that feature. Needless to say
johannes1234321 5y ago
This happens a lot with established systems. I also don't know which Linux kernel versions I'm using. Was relevant once, now most changes don't impact me anymore. They are quite specialized. ...
- nicbou 5y ago
  An exception is Windows updates, which tend to break stuff, reset preferences, and introduce user hostile changes.
  - hulitu 5y ago
    So are Android updates. It's like they have the same teacher.
foobarbecue 5y ago
Yep, when updates stopped being available for my Xperia mini a few years ago. Just checked and it's android 9. Still works great. Still nice and small.
vb6sp6 5y ago
The updates are pretty boring these days. The top feature showing in the system update screen is "Personalized design that adapts to the color of your wallpaper". yawn
moogly 5y ago
I've been using Android since Éclair (2.1) and Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) was the last version I was excited about. It's kind of like Word and Excel that were "finished" with v6.0 and v5.0 respectively.
1_player 5y ago
I routinely find my iPhone and iPad are one major version behind. Yep, just checked, I'm still on iOS 14. I don't even care about all the new features.
MrMember 5y ago
Early on version updates were significant. Big, important changes adding nice features and noticeably improving the user experience (I remember one Android update where they put a lot of focus on improving the UI responsiveness for example). Mobile OSes are mature these days, there aren't as many (or any) opportunities for sweeping changes that improve the experience. These days I almost dread Android updates because I don't know what they're going to change for no reason that breaks my user flow.

Anyone else just stopped keeping track of what version of Android their phone is on? I used to know this stuff, but these days couldn't care less.

by nly 5y ago

Anyone else just stopped keeping track of what version of Android their phone is on? I used to know this stuff, but these days couldn't care less.

TOMDM 5y ago

For real. For me smartphones are just good enough. They all take nice pictures, they're all fast enough, they all have a nice screen, nice touch controls and nice UI. It just doesn't matter as much anymore. The only thing on here that made me go "oh cool" is the extra dim mode, my 4a really likes scorching my retinas at night.

inglor_cz 5y ago
I am almost with you, but there are some things I appreciate: a. A better quality of pictures even in less-than-perfectly lit scenes. This matters indoors or in the gloomier months of the year. b. As you mentioned, an extra dim, or on the other hand extra bright, mode of the screen. Trying to orient yourself in blazing midday sun is a horror with some screens. c. Fast charging is something I thoroughly enjoy.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
danellis 5y ago
The dictation looks really good. The main reason I don't use it currently, even though it would be the most natural way to enter text, is that I want my text to have punctuation without me having to be explicit about it. Looking forward to trying this eventually. Also, given that they have translation and live transcription of videos, live translation of videos was the next logical step. I hope it's available for all audio sources.
- asmos7 5y ago
  that's a good point - shouldn't it include that out of the box? must be hard to accomplish
hammyhavoc 5y ago
How are you doing in terms of security patches? On a Nokia 5.3 in the Android One certified program, and it's still on the May 2021 security patch. Go figure.
- TOMDM 5y ago
  Well, given I have a pixel, I'm pretty good on patches. I wish google patched their devices for longer, I'd happilly only update every 5-6 years these days, but security doesn't allow for it.
lostmsu 5y ago
I stopped caring after Google axed speech recognition when the screen is off on older devices with an update. Now it is a gamble I have to play because of security updates. IMO, one of the recent updates brought nice feature to AOSP and therefore all vendors: navigation via swipes.

TrueGeek 5y ago

It's nice for Google to announce the new version, but it's up to the carrier to decide if I can have it, I guess. And when.

ChuckNorris89 5y ago

I would like to. But the usability and quality of life improvements on each new version of Android are pretty tangible. I went back to my trusty old OP3 running Android 9 I think, for a bit, and the overall experience took a hit. Everything felt kinda clunky now coming from Android 11, even though I always loved the clean Android implementation of the OP3.

hulitu 5y ago

Since 6.0 there were no real changes in android. It will be better if they just concentrate on fixing bugs instead of claiming something was done.

45ure 5y ago

It becomes even more irrelevant, where UI enhancements have already been implemented by manufacturers to improve their OS. For example, Samsung OneUI with Good Lock (Multistar, Navstar,Notistar, Quickstar, Home Up, Clockface) One Hand Operation+, Sound Assistant etc. I am looking forward to how some of the features will be incorporated/improved in the new version(OneUI 4), rather than the stock features of Android 12.

bko 5y ago

I've been underwhelmed by recent mobile updates. Maybe I'm missing something but the stuff that sticks out is oh, this rectangle is rounded now. New clock face, okay. I guess floating notifications, but even that is meh. Facebook had those annoying floating faces 5 years ago I do remember when they were trying to push touchless gestures (e.g. changing the spotify song by waving your hand) which is a perfect example of a feature that pretty much no one wanted. I imagine google had to pay spotify to include that feature. Needless to say

johannes1234321 5y ago

This happens a lot with established systems. I also don't know which Linux kernel versions I'm using. Was relevant once, now most changes don't impact me anymore. They are quite specialized. ...

nicbou 5y ago
An exception is Windows updates, which tend to break stuff, reset preferences, and introduce user hostile changes.
- hulitu 5y ago
  So are Android updates. It's like they have the same teacher.

foobarbecue 5y ago

Yep, when updates stopped being available for my Xperia mini a few years ago. Just checked and it's android 9. Still works great. Still nice and small.

vb6sp6 5y ago

The updates are pretty boring these days. The top feature showing in the system update screen is "Personalized design that adapts to the color of your wallpaper". yawn

moogly 5y ago

I've been using Android since Éclair (2.1) and Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) was the last version I was excited about. It's kind of like Word and Excel that were "finished" with v6.0 and v5.0 respectively.

1_player 5y ago

I routinely find my iPhone and iPad are one major version behind. Yep, just checked, I'm still on iOS 14. I don't even care about all the new features.

MrMember 5y ago

Early on version updates were significant. Big, important changes adding nice features and noticeably improving the user experience (I remember one Android update where they put a lot of focus on improving the UI responsiveness for example). Mobile OSes are mature these days, there aren't as many (or any) opportunities for sweeping changes that improve the experience. These days I almost dread Android updates because I don't know what they're going to change for no reason that breaks my user flow.