4 ms·

This is what drove me away from Android and just made me get an iPhone. Much like you, I'm done with researching what device to get for weeks, finally settling

by div 14y ago

This is what drove me away from Android and just made me get an iPhone. Much like you, I'm done with researching what device to get for weeks, finally settling on one (with the necessary compromises) and then get shafted anyway. Plenty happy with my iPhone so far, I may reconsider Android once the no-upgrade, crappy custom skin, comes with crapware problems it's riddled with are resolved.

twism 14y ago
It's been resolved. Get the phone sold by Google themselves. (GSM Galaxy Nexus) from the Google Play Store. You wouldn't get a Motorola phone with iOS on it (in the event Motorola happened to get their hands on iOS source)?
- woadwarrior01 14y ago
  Are you sure? This was my reasoning when I bought a Nexus S in early 2011 just after it was released. It came with Gingerbread. Later, at the end of the year, they released the ICS update, and then subsequently was blocked. One of my friends got it, but I never got it (until I downloaded the ROM from somewhere and manually updated). The official line was that this was due to poor battery backup, but I felt the battery backup time improved after the update. Eventually I ended up selling it for 100$ and buying a iPhone 4s. Clearly, all hardware manufacturers have an incentive to not give updates in order to compel people to buy their latest devices. It's just that Apple plays a slightly different game by giving updates, which make your device slower and slower with every upgrade until about 18-24 months later, you just fork out cash to buy their latest device.
  - dagar 14y ago
    You can download the updates directly from Google for all nexus devices. https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images
    - tapoxi 14y ago
      Unless the carrier blocks the update from going through. It took two months without a word from Verizon before my Galaxy Nexus finally got the Jellybean update, behind all the other Nexus phones. At some point I imagine Verizon will simply stop supporting the phone, and the developer site will point to the last, 'carrier-blessed' OTA Android release. If I can't trust a Nexus device on this platform, what can I trust?
      - sahaj 14y ago
        Only way to assure future updates is to buy an unlocked device directly from Google. I bought an AT&T Nexus S from Best Buy for $49 with a 2 year contract. It did not receive updates from Google even though it had a Google logo on the back and I had to update manually by downloading from the device image download link mentioned above. I have a Galaxy Nexus now that I bought thru Google, it updated to the latest point release as soon as I turned it on. As long as device gets purchased with a contract at a subsidized price, don't expect updates to get to you over the air.
        bunderbunder 14y ago
        > Only way to assure future updates is to buy an unlocked device directly from Google. At least in the USA that's often a sucker move. You pay full price for the phone, but still end up paying a higher monthly fee to cover the subsidized handset you didn't take. A couple carriers do offer BYO handset pricing. But if you want to stick with a big carrier like Verizon then the phones Google sells directly are effectively coming at an extremely hefty premium.
- msh 14y ago
  No, the original Nexus will no recieve JB officially.... The 3GS which is just as old still got IOS6.
  - dagar 14y ago
    but the original Nexus will still receive the latest google maps, gmail, etc that aren't tied to the OS version like they are in iOS.
  - Macha 14y ago
    Really? Does it have Siri? Does it have FaceTime? Does it have turn-by-turn navigation (the one added feature of the Apple Maps catastrophe)? Is notification Center the only substantial feature added since iOS4? Can the iOS6 running on the 3GS really be considered the same as the iOS6 running on e.g. the iPhone 4S? Or is it iOS4 with a few extra APIs for developers? I mean, Google releases updates to the Google Apps on Android for quite a substantial amount of time, so it's quite possible that unupdated Android devices are actually getting almost the same level of support as the 3GS. The only difference is that app developers have to bundle the [new APIs](http://developer.android.com/tools/extras/support-library.html http://developer.android.com/tools/extras/support-library.ht...) with their Android apps while Apple pushes the new API onto devices.

by div 14y ago

twism 14y ago

It's been resolved. Get the phone sold by Google themselves. (GSM Galaxy Nexus) from the Google Play Store. You wouldn't get a Motorola phone with iOS on it (in the event Motorola happened to get their hands on iOS source)?

woadwarrior01 14y ago
Are you sure? This was my reasoning when I bought a Nexus S in early 2011 just after it was released. It came with Gingerbread. Later, at the end of the year, they released the ICS update, and then subsequently was blocked. One of my friends got it, but I never got it (until I downloaded the ROM from somewhere and manually updated). The official line was that this was due to poor battery backup, but I felt the battery backup time improved after the update. Eventually I ended up selling it for 100$ and buying a iPhone 4s. Clearly, all hardware manufacturers have an incentive to not give updates in order to compel people to buy their latest devices. It's just that Apple plays a slightly different game by giving updates, which make your device slower and slower with every upgrade until about 18-24 months later, you just fork out cash to buy their latest device.
- dagar 14y ago
  You can download the updates directly from Google for all nexus devices. https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images
  - tapoxi 14y ago
    Unless the carrier blocks the update from going through. It took two months without a word from Verizon before my Galaxy Nexus finally got the Jellybean update, behind all the other Nexus phones. At some point I imagine Verizon will simply stop supporting the phone, and the developer site will point to the last, 'carrier-blessed' OTA Android release. If I can't trust a Nexus device on this platform, what can I trust?
    - sahaj 14y ago
      Only way to assure future updates is to buy an unlocked device directly from Google. I bought an AT&T Nexus S from Best Buy for $49 with a 2 year contract. It did not receive updates from Google even though it had a Google logo on the back and I had to update manually by downloading from the device image download link mentioned above. I have a Galaxy Nexus now that I bought thru Google, it updated to the latest point release as soon as I turned it on. As long as device gets purchased with a contract at a subsidized price, don't expect updates to get to you over the air.
      - bunderbunder 14y ago
        > Only way to assure future updates is to buy an unlocked device directly from Google. At least in the USA that's often a sucker move. You pay full price for the phone, but still end up paying a higher monthly fee to cover the subsidized handset you didn't take. A couple carriers do offer BYO handset pricing. But if you want to stick with a big carrier like Verizon then the phones Google sells directly are effectively coming at an extremely hefty premium.
msh 14y ago
No, the original Nexus will no recieve JB officially.... The 3GS which is just as old still got IOS6.
- dagar 14y ago
  but the original Nexus will still receive the latest google maps, gmail, etc that aren't tied to the OS version like they are in iOS.
- Macha 14y ago
  Really? Does it have Siri? Does it have FaceTime? Does it have turn-by-turn navigation (the one added feature of the Apple Maps catastrophe)? Is notification Center the only substantial feature added since iOS4? Can the iOS6 running on the 3GS really be considered the same as the iOS6 running on e.g. the iPhone 4S? Or is it iOS4 with a few extra APIs for developers? I mean, Google releases updates to the Google Apps on Android for quite a substantial amount of time, so it's quite possible that unupdated Android devices are actually getting almost the same level of support as the 3GS. The only difference is that app developers have to bundle the [new APIs](http://developer.android.com/tools/extras/support-library.html http://developer.android.com/tools/extras/support-library.ht...) with their Android apps while Apple pushes the new API onto devices.