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Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Google's best efforts

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Re: Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Google's best efforts

#61

Post by cageface »

setpatchaddress wrote: post #53
cageface wrote: post #17

This is definitely a problem but in practice it's not as dire as this article makes it sound. So many of the essential pieces have been factored out into the support libraries and independently upgradable components that Android devices actually get more regular updates in some respects than iOS devices do. For example, I have to update my entire iPhone OS to get an updated web browser or photo library or keyboard. G…

Downside of updating support libraries independently is that it balloons the QA matrix and makes integration bugs inevitable. The iOS approach means the entire OS is properly tested as an entire entity.

There are definitely some very big upsides to being able to move your entire user base to a new major OS version in a year. Apple benefits a lot from this and Google and the vendors and carriers need to somehow get their heads together and deal with this because it is a serious issue.

I just wanted to point out that there are some good things about a more decoupled model too.

Re: Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Google's best efforts

#62

Post by zaarn »

waynenilsen wrote: post #11

The biggest problem is that android is not focusing on the low end where most of their users are. They need to make the UX on these older and slower devices _better_ with every update, not worse

On the low end there is Android One, which does take out all the bloatware that slows down most of the low end. It's pretty good in my opinion.

Re: Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Google's best efforts

#64

Post by cs02rm0 »

barrkel wrote: post #9

Not particularly on topic, but OnePlus is a pretty decent choice if you don't want to pay Pixel prices but get an almost stock experience with reasonably rapid OS updates.

For about two years.

Even OnePlus, which is better than most, tails off after that. They've just released a public beta of Pie for the 3T, which hadn't had security updates for the last four months or so.

Re: Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Google's best efforts

#65

Post by wyldfire »

Aside: this headline is poorly worded IMO. It sounds ambiguous with the execution duration of a software update. "Android updates are getting less and less frequent" or "fewer android updates happening in the field" etc might be clearer.

> The reasons for the slowing updates aren’t clear

IMO it is clear: people often "update" by retiring the old device and buying a new one. The metrics in this article are all from Google -- they show market share of android release (out of android devices).

People are refreshing less often because smartphones released in the last few years are: (1) not terribly different from the ones on the shelf now, (2) more expensive than they've ever been. People are spacing out their upgrade cycle because their current phone is good enough and because phones are more expensive.

Re: Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Google's best efforts

#66

Post by maxxxxx »

Reason077 wrote: post #42
cheeze wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just can't believe that 10 years later I still have to have a grid and have to hide apps I don't care about in folders.

”have to hide apps I don't care about in folders.” Almost all apps can be deleted now days on iOS, including most of Apple’s stock apps. The only exceptions are a few core system apps, like Settings and App Store.

It’s not about deleting. It’s about having them on the desktop. On Android you have a drawer for all apps and only the ones you use often on the desktop. In iOS everything is on the desktop. In android I also can have the same app in two different folders which is quite useful.

Re: Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Google's best efforts

#67

Post by mandevil »

chrisseaton wrote: post #10
gniv wrote: post #6

I misread the title. The article is about the rate of adoption of new releases. Personally, I think it's due to people keeping their phones longer (and, of course, carriers not passing on the major updates).

> I think it's due to people keeping their phones longer Why can't the old phones run the new versions of Android? There's been no architecture change has there?

They (mostly) can, just the various companies involved have no incentive to actually do the work necessary to do it. Treble is supposed to make upgrades easier, but as the article points out, most people don't have Treble, and the carriers and manufacturers still don't seem to care, even with a lower amount of effort involved.

Re: Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Google's best efforts

#68

Post by vetinari »

untog wrote: post #46
RugnirViking wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

? Security on even older phones is so good most non-tech oriented people think that phone viruses are a myth

That's not really true. There are regular browser vulnerabilities, for example.

On Android, browsers are updated separately, outside the OS update cycle. The Android users have the current Chrome, Firefox or whatever they are using, without regard to their OS version.

Re: Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Google's best efforts

#69

Post by moron4hire »

setpatchaddress wrote: post #53
cageface wrote: post #17

This is definitely a problem but in practice it's not as dire as this article makes it sound. So many of the essential pieces have been factored out into the support libraries and independently upgradable components that Android devices actually get more regular updates in some respects than iOS devices do. For example, I have to update my entire iPhone OS to get an updated web browser or photo library or keyboard. G…

Downside of updating support libraries independently is that it balloons the QA matrix and makes integration bugs inevitable. The iOS approach means the entire OS is properly tested as an entire entity.

I would think two of the richest companies in the world could figure out how to manage that sort of complexity. Maybe they need to poach a few people from Microsoft to learn how it's done.

Re: Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Google's best efforts

#70

Post by whalabi »

cageface wrote: post #17

This is definitely a problem but in practice it's not as dire as this article makes it sound. So many of the essential pieces have been factored out into the support libraries and independently upgradable components that Android devices actually get more regular updates in some respects than iOS devices do. For example, I have to update my entire iPhone OS to get an updated web browser or photo library or keyboard. G…

Hi, author here

You're right about platform features used within apps, many (most? all?) are made available to developers with the support libraries.

However, users will get none of the following until they get Pie (for example)

* ML adaptive battery

* App actions (ML predictive app shortcuts)

* Digital well-being dashboard and limits

* A lot more, as shown on this page (there's a lot of smaller items in the collapsible categories at the bottom): https://www.android.com/versions/pie-9-0/

Each update has a heap of interface improvements, and users miss out on these

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