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Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

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Re: Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

#171

Post by baconner »

barredo wrote: post #20
technoslut wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>And don't forget the mandatory "crapware" that carriers pre-install. ICS supposedly solves this problem but one has to wonder how many low-end Android phones will be sold in the next year (or even two?) that won't support ICS since the N1 won't be getting it.

I'd say Gingerbread will still be the most pre-installed Android version during all 2012.

Sadly I agree. Its also why I'm not too concerned that my n1 wont get a supported upgrade - I'll be needing a device that's down where the users are to dev & test. Ics will have to wait a bit.

Re: Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

#172

Post by loire280 »

ajanuary wrote: post #108
loire280 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The chart cuts off after 3 years - the point is that the original iPhone was supported with the current version of iOS for 2 years after the last one was sold (minus two days - iOS 4, the first version to drop support, came out June 21, 2010). On AT&T, at least, most iPhone customers are eligible for an upgrade after 18 months because of the cost of their plan, so everyone was eligible, by a significant margin, for a…

Not true if you got a 2nd generation iPhone. You could have gotten a 3G as the latest phone and been unsupported for 9 months on an 18 month contract.

True, and I've heard that iOS 4 didn't run so well on the iPhone 3G in the first place. However, even once support was dropped, the iPhone 3G was still on the current major version (4.3, a relatively minor update, is the version that dropped 3G support), and it doesn't seem like apps required 4.3 until well after that version was out. That's a big difference than being 1-3 major versions behind on Android (especially considering the rather substantial changes in each major version of Android).

Re: Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

#173

Post by jamesfrank »

gcb wrote: post #162
d_r wrote: post #6

The current situation is somewhat unfair to the indiscrete / non-tech-savvy consumer since they might buy an Android phone without understanding the differences from the iOS ecosystem. At least several of my friends did. "They're about the same right? And this one was $30 cheaper!" And I genuinely feel bad every time this happens. Note that I of course have no gripes with Android OS/concept itself -- it's a good cont…

i don't buy this 'a good contender for iOS'. they are different leagues. The people that consider an android or ios as equals and decide on device color or price won't even know what this table is about. history is repeating. iOS is a IBM mainframe. with it's golden cuffs. Android is the radio shack PC. with it's "require soldering". i give that android is still in it's infancy. and that the availability of OSes are…

There may be some truth to that for the type of person who reads HN, but it's certainly not true for the wider public. Most people don't care about having full control of their mobile device, they just want it to work.

Re: Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

#174

Post by Rabidgremlin »

Whilst I agree that this is a problem (especially since it looks like my Nexus One won't get the the upgrade) a mitigating factor as an app developer is Android's backwards compatibility.

For instance is my app targets 2.1 it will run on all on 2.1 and above which is currently ~97% of all active devices.

Check out http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-ve... for the active OS version stats collected by Google in the last 14 days.

Re: Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

#175

Post by anon1385 »

guelo wrote: post #165
barredo wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say Gingerbread will still be the most pre-installed Android version during all 2012.

That's highly doubtful. After the source is available the full transition to the new OS by all manufacturers, even the cheap ones, seems to take about 6 months. Gingerbread source was released last December and there were no Froyo devices being sold by summer.

>there were no Froyo devices being sold by summer

What? There are still Froyo devices being sold now, as described in the article we are currently discussing:

That’s because every US carrier is still selling - even just now introducing - smartphones that will almost certainly never run Gingerbread and beyond.

Example: http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/huawei-impulse-4g-at/450...

Re: Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

#176

Post by RK »

gcb wrote: post #163
RK wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm very happy with Android. But, I only recommend the Nexus line and this post seems to back that up (we'll see as things go forward).

that's choosing the lesser of two evils. my nexus one shows as green, yes, i have all the latest software, but no fix yet for the touchscreen issue. That alone would make the nexus one RED since launch on that table for me, as this hints to zero support. try to use your touch screen for 10min while the device is charging from an empty battery (some other use cases also trigger the bug, but this is 100% reproductible)

Is that a hardware issue? Never had a touchscreen problem myself when charging.

Re: Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

#177

Post by mdwrigh2 »

ConstantineXVI wrote: post #91
technoslut wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can hide it within preferences which is probably the main issue with many users. From what I've seen these apps matter very little in terms of storage.

Newer (late 2010+) phones have finally learned to start putting a reasonable amount of onboard NAND, so app storage isn't near the problem it used to be. The "disable" feature sounds like it also `chmod -x`'s the app in question so it can't start, not just hide away the icon. The one bit I'm worried about is if carriers are going to be able to comment out the feature (and the data controls, which I'm far more concern…

I suspect they will not be able to remove the feature as long as it's an official Android phone. My initial guess is that this will be added to CTS, or at least the list of requirements for things that work on Android.

Re: Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

#178

Post by mdwrigh2 »

gcb wrote: post #136

Great graph. and to think i switched from a series of Nokia phones (because they loose support every 6mo, to the point you can't even buy a working headset cable or extra charger for them) and bought a nexus one because i thought "spending $700 to buy an OPEN phone directly from google will get updated software for life and consistent use of cables and standards"

To be fair, you do get to use all of the new accessories and cables. Plus if you want to run ICS, while Google may not support it, it certainly seems like Cyanogen will have a version for the N1.

Re: Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

#179

Post by gcb »

RK wrote: post #176
gcb wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's choosing the lesser of two evils. my nexus one shows as green, yes, i have all the latest software, but no fix yet for the touchscreen issue. That alone would make the nexus one RED since launch on that table for me, as this hints to zero support. try to use your touch screen for 10min while the device is charging from an empty battery (some other use cases also trigger the bug, but this is 100% reproductible)

Is that a hardware issue? Never had a touchscreen problem myself when charging.

a combination of hardware and software. cheap hardware used in some lots require software recalibration on the driver.

if this does not happen to your phone you are in the happy minority of nexus one users.

to the rest of us, while using the touch screen for extended periods of time (shorted if using both fingers and/or charging) it will start to behave erradicaly. Touching one area will register a touch somewhere else. This is also affected by the pressure. the harder you press the less likely to see the bug. It will get worse and affect larger areas until you turn the screen off and on again (lock, unlock and it's back to perfect condition)

worth to mention, this does not happens with some mods. but i haven't rooted my phone as i use it mostly for development and like to test against the stock image.

Re: Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

#180

Post by rayiner »

SamColes wrote: post #34
d_r wrote: post #6

The current situation is somewhat unfair to the indiscrete / non-tech-savvy consumer since they might buy an Android phone without understanding the differences from the iOS ecosystem. At least several of my friends did. "They're about the same right? And this one was $30 cheaper!" And I genuinely feel bad every time this happens. Note that I of course have no gripes with Android OS/concept itself -- it's a good cont…

Are OS updates really that important for most consumers? I have a Desire running Froyo. I don't think I've really missed out on a huge amount by not getting Gingerbread.

In terms of perceived value? Definitely. See all the flack Apple received for not supporting Siri on the iPhone 4. Now imagine if they hadn't released iOS 4 and multitasking on the 3GS.
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