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Good luck with that. Most Android devices stop receiving updates after one major version upgrade. It will never, ever happen for all these extra devices. Stop dreaming.


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That would be really really bad considering none of the Android OS get any update ever.

Lol. I’ve had Samsung and Pixel phones that never received updates to newer Android versions, not even to the next version that came out while the phone was still being sold.

Good luck getting more than two major Android updates on this.

Can you see the problem? People have Android phones from big manufacturers and not getting updates. If this will change in the future that's great. But now people have phones that don't get updates.

In general if you buy android, you basically should never expect any support or upgrades what so ever. If there is an update, count yourself lucky.

On the other hand, at least you can get those updates on your older iOS devices. Most Android devices have never seen updates at all, and of the ones who have, most of them will never see more than a few minor updates above what they came with.

Out of 5 android devices I've owned only one received major version update (and it didn't work). So, anecdotally, one does. But I believe my case is more common than yours.

I doubt it's so much doing updates as it is about support. If they have a vendor app (like Square on a tablet to take payments) and that abandons older OS versions to lower technical debt or for security reasons then at least they can update.

On Android you'd sadly find the lack of kernel compatibility with the chipset means that ever happens.


Most Android users can't update. Their device gets updates for maybe 12-18 months, then nothing. They have to replace the device to update it after that.

Or like samsung phones, where they just stop giving you updates after 2 major releases

From Google's response:

> If you are unsure what Android version you are on, confirm you are running Android 10 or above

My Xperia X is still on 8.0.0, it only got a few months of updates before they just silently stopped sending them, displaying that my "device is up to date!". This is a widespread problem in the Android market, in comparison, my iPad Air 2 is still getting updates 8 years after release. Google keep saying that they want to work on this, but realistically, is it ever going to happen?


Android: We update your system until it's too slow to use.

Also, Android: One day we will stop giving you updates, so your apps can't talk to new versions of online services anymore.


That's the theory, in practice with the very short support and the vendor versions, Android just never gets updated. People are just buying new phones.

As a counterpoint, I have a Samsung S3 that hasn't been updated at all since I bought it in 2012. It's still running Android 4.1.2.

Next phone I buy will be a Nexus for this reason.


Android devices do not receive updates. This creates all sort of issues, including inconsistency and lack of features. Legitimate and sensible decision, but sad.

Software updates actually occur for old hardware. Android almost never gets updates for anything older than a couple years.

I hate iOS for it's walled garden bullshit but android seems to have found the one way to be worse.


This is what keeps me from android. I'm sure there are other android phones out there that receive updates but until I do a fair amount of research I won't know for sure. My days of carefully researching device purchases are behind me. I just want to walk into a store, buy a new phone and know for the next 2-3 years I'll get all the latest updates.

EDIT: Android phone recommendations?


How many Android users ever get updates, though?

All the time, a lot of functionality is updated through Google Play services, and many of the apps are updated outside the OS.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/12/android-2-3-gingerbre...


For what? Android won't provide lifetime updates.
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