4 ms·

As bad as the Android OS update situation is at least there's a fairly good chance you can root and install a custom ROM if you really want the latest & greates

by jsz0 15y ago

As bad as the Android OS update situation is at least there's a fairly good chance you can root and install a custom ROM if you really want the latest & greatest OS. This would be difficult or impossible with Windows Phone devices. It's still unbelievable to me Apple is the only major player who supports all their devices with software updates for an extended period of time. (not just bug fixes but adding real value post-sale)

recoiledsnake 15y ago
> This would be difficult or impossible with Windows Phone devices. Some WP devices(many Samsung, HTC and Nokia phones) have custom ROMs with the latest updates. https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=xda+developers+windows+phone+custom+roms&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&client=opera&hs=Q3H&rls=en&channel=suggest&q=windows+phone+custom+roms&oq=windows+phone+custom+roms&aq=f&aqi=g1g-b1&aql=&gs_nf=1&gs_l=serp.3..0j0i8.21381.21595.0.22514.2.1.1.0.0.0.153.153.0j1.2.0.-rvhPTwtWLs&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&fp=2ecde0773dc950af https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=... >It's still unbelievable to me Apple is the only major player who supports all their devices with software updates for an extended period of time. (not just bug fixes but adding real value post-sale) So far Microsoft has been doing that(with NoDo and Mango), so lets wait before jumping to conclusions.
- fpgeek 15y ago
  That's not entirely accurate. Google adds tons of value post-sale to Android devices. Most of that value just happens to be through app updates and new apps, not OS updates. To muddy the waters even further, some of the apps that Google updates (e.g. Market/Play Store, Music, Maps, etc.) are treated as part of the OS on the iOS side of the fence. Moreover, Google, quite understandably, is moving even further in that direction (e.g. Chrome Beta shows even browser updates moving outside of the core OS). I'll separately add that once you go outside of what Apple considers the OS, they actually do a relatively poor job of supporting older devices with their new apps (e.g. Siri, iPhoto, iMovie, etc.) compared to Google. Often, the iOS hacking community even demonstrates that the barriers involved aren't technical.
freehunter 15y ago
Windows Phone does have some custom ROMs available on XDA. Obviously they're not new versions of the software since there's just the one that's available on every device already. But XDA does have some Windows Phone chefs.
tseabrooks 15y ago
I don't think the problem with the Android situation is that users don't get the new OS. The bigger problem (for me at least) is the frustration of being locked into 2.2 unless I want to greatly reduce my market size when writing android apps. My iPhone apps can target 5.0 and get 95% of the market. If I go to 2.3 I lose ~20+ percent of the market. Let's not even consider what you lose by going to 3.0+.
- clarky07 15y ago
  and the fact that 3 isn't current, 4 is. if you develop for the latest and greatest you get what, like 5% of the market.
  - fpgeek 15y ago
    It really depends on what latest-and-greatest features you want for your app. Google (and a few others) have invested a lot of effort in porting back new Android features with compatibility libraries (e.g. Fragments) so what you want is covered by them, there's little or no compromise. On the other side, Google has also developed a careful reflection / late-binding framework that often makes it straightforward for apps to gracefully degrade their uses of new APIs. That gives developers another way to take advantage of new features while retaining broad compatibility.

by jsz0 15y ago

recoiledsnake 15y ago

> This would be difficult or impossible with Windows Phone devices. Some WP devices(many Samsung, HTC and Nokia phones) have custom ROMs with the latest updates. https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=xda+developers+windows+phone+custom+roms&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&client=opera&hs=Q3H&rls=en&channel=suggest&q=windows+phone+custom+roms&oq=windows+phone+custom+roms&aq=f&aqi=g1g-b1&aql=&gs_nf=1&gs_l=serp.3..0j0i8.21381.21595.0.22514.2.1.1.0.0.0.153.153.0j1.2.0.-rvhPTwtWLs&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&fp=2ecde0773dc950af https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=... >It's still unbelievable to me Apple is the only major player who supports all their devices with software updates for an extended period of time. (not just bug fixes but adding real value post-sale) So far Microsoft has been doing that(with NoDo and Mango), so lets wait before jumping to conclusions.

fpgeek 15y ago
That's not entirely accurate. Google adds tons of value post-sale to Android devices. Most of that value just happens to be through app updates and new apps, not OS updates. To muddy the waters even further, some of the apps that Google updates (e.g. Market/Play Store, Music, Maps, etc.) are treated as part of the OS on the iOS side of the fence. Moreover, Google, quite understandably, is moving even further in that direction (e.g. Chrome Beta shows even browser updates moving outside of the core OS). I'll separately add that once you go outside of what Apple considers the OS, they actually do a relatively poor job of supporting older devices with their new apps (e.g. Siri, iPhoto, iMovie, etc.) compared to Google. Often, the iOS hacking community even demonstrates that the barriers involved aren't technical.

freehunter 15y ago

Windows Phone does have some custom ROMs available on XDA. Obviously they're not new versions of the software since there's just the one that's available on every device already. But XDA does have some Windows Phone chefs.

tseabrooks 15y ago

I don't think the problem with the Android situation is that users don't get the new OS. The bigger problem (for me at least) is the frustration of being locked into 2.2 unless I want to greatly reduce my market size when writing android apps. My iPhone apps can target 5.0 and get 95% of the market. If I go to 2.3 I lose ~20+ percent of the market. Let's not even consider what you lose by going to 3.0+.

clarky07 15y ago
and the fact that 3 isn't current, 4 is. if you develop for the latest and greatest you get what, like 5% of the market.
- fpgeek 15y ago
  It really depends on what latest-and-greatest features you want for your app. Google (and a few others) have invested a lot of effort in porting back new Android features with compatibility libraries (e.g. Fragments) so what you want is covered by them, there's little or no compromise. On the other side, Google has also developed a careful reflection / late-binding framework that often makes it straightforward for apps to gracefully degrade their uses of new APIs. That gives developers another way to take advantage of new features while retaining broad compatibility.