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Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

android-developers.blogspot.com

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Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#201
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really surprising given the device's age, but still disappointing given the presumably rather large number of Nexus 5 still in use. The bigger story may be the inability to come up with a compelling reason for N5 users to upgrade, other than getting the latest OS revision. The N5's compactness in particular makes the 5X (and the impending successor, codenamed "Sailfish") a tough sell.

> Not really surprising given the device's age Nexus 5 released late 2013, last major OS update in late 2015. Compare to the iPhone 4S, which came out late 2011 and still got iOS 9 (4 years later). Really not buying the "two years is plenty of updates" excuse, especially from the Nexus line.

The Nexus 5 was about 1/2 the price of the equivalent iPhone, so the iPhone should be support quite a lot longer. A Nexus 5 purchased in 2013 ($349 for 16GB) plus a Nexus 5x purchased today ($299 for 16GB at BestBuy right now) is the same total cost as the purchase price of an iPhone 5s ($649 for 16GB when the Nexus 5 launched).

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lollipop? I wish! My Samsung tablet is stuck at KitKat unless I'm willing to try a Cyanogenmod nightly.

I wish I didn't update my Nexus 7 2012 to Lollipop. Lollipop made it crawl compared to Kitkat.

Apparently this is due to a hardware issue with the Flash memory (not that that excuses the slow performance!).

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#203
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only thing I'd add here is that unfortunately the Nexus 5x is not an upgrade over the 5 in terms of performance. It might even be a downgrade (I own both). Because the 5x uses a 64-bit arch, it uses more RAM than the 5x (and both only have 2GB). Also, the SD808 (2GHz) cores in the 5x are hardly a step up from the SD800 (2.2GHz) cores. The only real upgrade the 5x gives you is the camera.

Best new features for me are fingerprint sensor, USB-C and and quick charge. Quick charge is a game changer. Less pressure to make the battery bigger if you can make the phone charge way faster.

> Best new features for me are fingerprint sensor, USB-C and and quick charge.

For me, USB-C is the worst part. Nobody else ever has a charger I can use, and when I plug into anything other than the wall adapter that came with the phone, it's always "charging slowly."

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#204
post #35

No Android 7 on my Nexus 5 might just be what pushes me to iOS. I've gone from being an Android evangelist to being an Android apologist ("Yeah, battery life sucks. Google has failed to fix it after X years") to now being, frankly, pissed off that my expensive phone is going to be left behind.

Unfortunately this also forces me away from the Nexus family. I just can't handle the size of the Nexus 6 - being a fairly petite female a large phone is just unwieldy. I'm not sure the phone developers ever take physical size into consideration. If anyone can recommend a small replacement phone that supports running the original Android OS instead of a OEMified mess?

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shame on Google. iPhone 5 was released a year before it (September 2012) and is going to receive iOS 10 in a few weeks. This is just laziness on Google's side.

Nexus 5 launch price: US$349 iPhone 5 launch price: US$649 A phone nearly twice the price should be supported quite a lot longer.

But it's not quite a bit longer, but much longer. The last major update for the Nexus 5 was Marshmallow. Mashmallow was released in October 2015, the Nexus 5 was released in October 2013. So, one got major updates for 24 months iff you bought it on release day and you were lucky to be in a region where it was available in in October 2013.

The iPhone 5s was released in approximately the same timeframe (September 2013). It gets iOS 10 and will probably receive iOS 11 as well (since the 5 gets 10 and they now seem to drop one generation per release). So, that will give major updates at least until 2017, or four years.

I am not sure why we find this acceptable anyway. When we buy a $300-400 Windows x86 laptop, we also expect it to be upgradable for a decade or so (which is usually possible).

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#206
post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iOS 9 runs and runs fine on iPhone 4S.

depends on what your definition of 'fine' is. I also use an iPhone 4S with iOS 9, and looked at how fast iOS 9 runs on iPhone 6S and iOS 8 on a friend's iPhone 4S. I don't think I'd call it anywhere close to fine. I'm numb to the slow response times, but the crashing applications make me want to ditch this for a 50% cheaper android phone which runs faster, and doesn't have planned obsolescence[0] (the link talks abou…

I agree. Especially considering the fact that it's possible to revert to iOS 6 with iPhone 4S. That's what "fine" looks like. I don't want to blame Apple, but iOS works fantastically bad on old devices, and hard to impossible downgrade doesn't add much love either. I bought iPhone at the time because it was responsive and Android was laggy. Guess it's reversed now.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#207
post #35

No Android 7 on my Nexus 5 might just be what pushes me to iOS. I've gone from being an Android evangelist to being an Android apologist ("Yeah, battery life sucks. Google has failed to fix it after X years") to now being, frankly, pissed off that my expensive phone is going to be left behind.

Unfortunately this also forces me away from the Nexus family. I just can't handle the size of the Nexus 6 - being a fairly petite female a large phone is just unwieldy. I'm not sure the phone developers ever take physical size into consideration. If anyone can recommend a small replacement phone that supports running the original Android OS instead of a OEMified mess?

The Nexus 5x should be great for you. It's a 5-inch screen and may have a couple more years of new Android versions left in it. Or better yet, wait for the new Nexus phones set to be released this year. Should add another year of Android support from Google.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#208
post #44

Meanwhile many phones (especially vendor-locked ones like the Droid Turbo...) are still stuck on Lollipop.

According† to https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html The recent Marshmallow has 15.2% market share Lollipop (14.1% + 21.4%) = 35.5% (the greatest share) KitKat has 29.2% (the next greatest share) Jelly Bean† still has (6.0% + 8.3% + 2.4%) = 16.7% Earlier than Jelly Bean is 3.4% of the total share. Jelly Bean was first unveiled in June 2012, four years ago. I think given the development model: large…

> As a techie you have to know by now that if you want an up to date version of Android you ought to get a Nexus

Not true. I have bought: Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7, Nexus 10, Nexus 5. Two of those were as expensive as iOS devices. None of them can get the N update (yes I could use Cyanogenmod but I prefer production versions of software for testing). We have our own app for Android phones and it is a pain to test (simulating touch with a mouse is not good). Other Android devices purchased for testing are no better...

Meanwhile the work iPhone 4 made it to iOS 7, the iPad 2 made it as far as iOS 9, and our other test devices are still getting updates to iOS 10.

I feel that Nexus devices stop getting updates quickly. The non-nexus Androids are way worse.

Don't buy an Android if you want a device to stay secure more than say two years (coming from somebody who loves Android!).

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Re: APKMirror: I have the same questions I have about all APK proxy services - which claim to pull the APKs directly form the Play Store - why would I trust it to provide software that isn't infected with malware? Other than APK Downloader, I haven't found another credible source among the very many options. Any solutions would be appreciated. ---- [0] APK Downloader, for those interested ... I'd start with the origi…

You are fine using apkmirror to grab an update you haven't yet received from the Play Store. When you install the apk, Android knows you are updating an app, verifies the signature, and ensures it came from the same developer. Android is sane: it won't let you downgrade, further updates from the store will work correctly, etc. Since apkmirror usually get their apks from the Play Store, you'll be okay if you know what…

> You are fine using apkmirror to grab an update you haven't yet received from the Play Store. When you install the apk, Android knows you are updating an app, verifies the signature, and ensures it came from the same developer.

Great point; thanks.

> apkmirror usually get their apks from the Play Store

How do you know this? I've read reports of other Play Store proxies who injected malware.

> your skeptical attitude is very appropriate. Installing apks from outside of the Play Store is by far the biggest vector for malware

I was talking about APK proxy services, which claimed to pull the APKs from Google Play Store. For app stores, there are other generally reputable sources, such as,

* F-Droid, which focuses on free/open source software and user privacy. It has an excellent reputation and builds every app from source.

* Aptoide: Large commercial market, claims to screen apps for malware

* SlideME: At least at one time, reputedly focused on small, indie devs.

* GetJar: "The worlds biggest Open App Store", Started "by developers for developers"

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not really surprising given the device's age, but still disappointing given the presumably rather large number of Nexus 5 still in use. My Nexus 5 was in use up until a couple of weeks ago. Then it entered a state where, when plugged in, it rebooted in an eternal loop and, when not plugged in, it shut off. Judging by the internet, this is a common problem for them. I followed the advice I found in multiple places o…

If you have another device to wait a month with, at least you can upgrade to the 2016 line instead of 5x/6p. Gives you another 3 years, not 2.

I think it is 2 years for major updates (from release), 3 years for security updates (from release), or 18 months for security updates from end of life.

Unless you are unlucky enough to get a device that they can't update due to drivers (Texas Instruments CPU).

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