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Android Oreo

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Re: Android Oreo

#511

Post by int_19h »

klondike_ wrote: post #100
dcow wrote: post #60

Am I the only one who's really disappointed by the platform's shift in its stance on background execution? I was originally drawn to Android because it wasn't iOS. I wanted to develop on a platform where I could run a service in the background if the user wanted that. Apps that were bad stewards of battery life and phone resources were supposed to be scrutinized by users and removed if they were too poor. You can be…

That might be good for power users, but for the average user it's a disaster. How many people actually read the app permissions when they install something? Most apps request background privileges and if you don't like that your only other option (until recently) was to not install the app. Users blame Android when Facebook and other popular apps started eating all their battery by running in the background. Google's…

So make it an opt-in mode, just like sideloading apps.

Re: Android Oreo

#512

Post by thecrazyone »

kuschku wrote: post #370
madeofpalk wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember many years ago when a few carrier and chipset execs stood up on Google I/O stage and announced a new program to ensure Android devices get updated quicker. Nothing came out of that. The proof here will be when they ship. Thankfully, 'Google Play Services' and distributing more and more services through the Play Store is a step in the right direction.

> Thankfully, 'Google Play Services' and distributing more and more services through the Play Store is a step in the right direction. A move towards replacing an open OS with an entirely proprietary solution full of tracking by a single vendor is "a step in the right direction"? There's thousands of solutions for how you can update core OS components, none of them require what Google's doing to open source.

Wow! This implication to open source software is largely overlooked in the discussions here. Good catch.

Re: Android Oreo

#513

Post by thecrazyone »

madeofpalk wrote: post #496
kuschku wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Thankfully, 'Google Play Services' and distributing more and more services through the Play Store is a step in the right direction. A move towards replacing an open OS with an entirely proprietary solution full of tracking by a single vendor is "a step in the right direction"? There's thousands of solutions for how you can update core OS components, none of them require what Google's doing to open source.

Look, the reality of the market is that most people are a lot more concerned about getting timely (security) updates than an 'open source' mobile OS.

Good point. However, that's a short term benefit at the cost of long term is what we should all remember

Re: Android Oreo

#516

Post by ranit »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #476
mkhpalm wrote: post #467

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Functional planned obsolescence. Hardware vendors will find a way to break hardware abstraction layers... so they can sell more hardware. Its the business model.

I bought a series of Nexus phones. The Nexus 5 no longer works. The Nexus 4 still works, but its battery is puffing out. The Nexus S has no hardware problems at all, but it's too underpowered to run modern software. The model "phone vendors nefariously build products with short lifespans, regardless of what people want to buy, so that they can sell more hardware" has trouble explaining why the longest-lived phones ar…

> It's the same reason animals age and die.

With the difference that younger (newer) animals are better built. :-)

Re: Android Oreo

#518

Post by xorcist »

rubyn00bie wrote: post #332
xorcist wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Carriers are a red herring. The world at large couldn't care less about how the customers of AT&T can supposedly only install AT&T-approved firmware. Most people can, but they're not seeing any updates. Google needs to fix their upgrade story. Even if the North American customers continued to run old vulnerable versions forever, updating everyone else's systems would be a tremendous improvement. (It would also make i…

Do you have any facts to back this up? Prior to the iPhone changing how phones were sold-- carriers meddled with everything so they could get their hands in media playback, app sales, feature upgrades etc. I don't think much has changed in this where anyone gives them an inch (which is nearly everyone but Apple). Note: I worked for T-Mobile for four years prior and a little after the originals iphone came out.

Facts to backup what? That most mobile phone users are outside the US? Or that most of the world buys phones in home electronics stores, not from their carrier?

The iPhone brought a bit of the outside world to the US telco market. This was only a matter of time, as the market becomes more globalized there is increasing competition in the consumer market, and carrier bound phones are less flexible and more expensive in the long run. Everybody knows this.

(I believe that even the US broadband market sooner or later will transformed in much the same way. For a long time it looked like Google was about to do it, but with that seemingly stalled for the time being we might have to wait a few more years.)

It is not reasonable to describe the iPhone as changing how phones were sold outside of a select few countries. Therefore we should not accept that explanation as to why Android phones do not receieve updates either. Those markets are small on a global scale, especially for Android which clearly dominates the lower end of the market, which is predominantly deregulated.

Re: Android Oreo

#520

Post by pjmlp »

eloisant wrote: post #499
pjmlp wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually since Google is still allowing customizations, it will hardly change anything.

They can impose whatever they want to OEMs who want to ship the Play Services and Google apps. That's pretty much all of them. If they say "install it this way or no Play Store for you", every manufacturer will follow.

That is what I have been wishing for years, and yet they still choose not to do it.
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