5 ms·

Of course there are multiple rationales for choosing a platform, but support is certainly one of them. A while ago someone made a nice graph of how good Apple/

by furyg3 12y ago

Of course there are multiple rationales for choosing a platform, but support is certainly one of them. A while ago someone made a nice graph of how good Apple/Google are at maintaining OS support for their devices, it's pretty informative (although I'd like to see a new one). http://www.fidlee.com/android-support-vs-ios-support/ http://www.fidlee.com/android-support-vs-ios-support/ In this case the Nexus 4 is still officially supported by 5.0... but not being able to call on a phone seems like unsupported to me.

EarthLaunch 12y ago
That's a great visualization, thanks. Here's an HN discussion of that chart from a year ago (it's a circus of everyone trying to make excuses): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6853222 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6853222
- epmatsw 12y ago
  Love the highly upvoted comments about how Apple can never release a watch or a 6 inch iPhone due to the inherent limitations of iOS.
dice 12y ago
My wife has an N4 running 5.0.1 with no issues re calling, so if there is an issue for these users it's an isolated one and not a systemic problem with all N4s. Most of the Android phones on the page you linked are not Google phones. Whether or not they get updated is up to the manufacturers and carriers, not Google. You'll note that the Nexus phones have more update support in general. Whether providing major updates to a phone is a good thing is debatable. My wife hated getting the 5.0 update. She saw it as a major inconvience that changed how her phone worked for no good reason. She would prefer to have the phone work the same way for the entire time she owns it. PS: 'Sup, fury?
- GVIrish 12y ago
  > My wife has an N4 running 5.0.1 with no issues re calling, so if there is an issue for these users it's an isolated one and not a systemic problem with all N4s. That's a bit of a leap to declare that the issue is an isolated one because your wife is not having the problem. As it turns out, my wife had that exact problem with her Nexus 4 on 5.0.1. How widespread is the problem? Who knows. From my perspective it seems like the 5.0 release has been a bit more problematic than previous major Android upgrades.
  - dice 12y ago
    If there is one device which is not impacted then it is not a problem with all devices. The problem is therefore isolated to a subset of all devices. Perhaps that subset is the majority of all N4s, perhaps it is a small fraction. We don't have enough data to say one way or another.
- matthuggins 12y ago
  Ahh, the ol' "works for me". Just because it works for your wife doesn't deem it as a non-problem, as seen by the hundreds of comments on a single bug report in the span of just a couple days.
  - dice 12y ago
    I didn't say it's a non-problem. I said it's not a problem with all Nexus 4 devices.
showsover 12y ago
Do you happen to know of an updated version, or one with Windows Phone present?
Someone1234 12y ago
I really like Android and have no desire to switch to iOS. However that being said: That graph really makes the entire ecosystem look dysfunctional. All smartphones should have full support for at least two years regardless of manufacturer and the fact most don't is a poor reflection of everyone involved. Android needs a Linux style package system. They bundle too much stuff together into singular giant update packages, when in reality you should be able to update e.g. Dialer, Browser, and so on without touching the Linux kernel or Android services.

by furyg3 12y ago

EarthLaunch 12y ago

That's a great visualization, thanks. Here's an HN discussion of that chart from a year ago (it's a circus of everyone trying to make excuses): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6853222 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6853222

epmatsw 12y ago
Love the highly upvoted comments about how Apple can never release a watch or a 6 inch iPhone due to the inherent limitations of iOS.

dice 12y ago

My wife has an N4 running 5.0.1 with no issues re calling, so if there is an issue for these users it's an isolated one and not a systemic problem with all N4s. Most of the Android phones on the page you linked are not Google phones. Whether or not they get updated is up to the manufacturers and carriers, not Google. You'll note that the Nexus phones have more update support in general. Whether providing major updates to a phone is a good thing is debatable. My wife hated getting the 5.0 update. She saw it as a major inconvience that changed how her phone worked for no good reason. She would prefer to have the phone work the same way for the entire time she owns it. PS: 'Sup, fury?

GVIrish 12y ago
> My wife has an N4 running 5.0.1 with no issues re calling, so if there is an issue for these users it's an isolated one and not a systemic problem with all N4s. That's a bit of a leap to declare that the issue is an isolated one because your wife is not having the problem. As it turns out, my wife had that exact problem with her Nexus 4 on 5.0.1. How widespread is the problem? Who knows. From my perspective it seems like the 5.0 release has been a bit more problematic than previous major Android upgrades.
- dice 12y ago
  If there is one device which is not impacted then it is not a problem with all devices. The problem is therefore isolated to a subset of all devices. Perhaps that subset is the majority of all N4s, perhaps it is a small fraction. We don't have enough data to say one way or another.
matthuggins 12y ago
Ahh, the ol' "works for me". Just because it works for your wife doesn't deem it as a non-problem, as seen by the hundreds of comments on a single bug report in the span of just a couple days.
- dice 12y ago
  I didn't say it's a non-problem. I said it's not a problem with all Nexus 4 devices.

showsover 12y ago

Do you happen to know of an updated version, or one with Windows Phone present?

Someone1234 12y ago

I really like Android and have no desire to switch to iOS. However that being said: That graph really makes the entire ecosystem look dysfunctional. All smartphones should have full support for at least two years regardless of manufacturer and the fact most don't is a poor reflection of everyone involved. Android needs a Linux style package system. They bundle too much stuff together into singular giant update packages, when in reality you should be able to update e.g. Dialer, Browser, and so on without touching the Linux kernel or Android services.