Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

[WelshBloke]

Original point still stands though.

If an update to the OS makes it more functional (Doesn't matter if its iOS or Android) shouldn't phones that came within 1 year ago get the update?

Which is important, the update or the functionality?

Sure it would be nice if every phone was able to do everything but thats never going to be the case.

You buy your phone on what it can do when you buy it, not how many updates have/will come out for it.

Anyway doesnt the whole update thing fly in the face of the "it just works" mythos?

 

[Ns1]

Would you not rather have had the feature set of iOS 6 when you got your iPhone4?

sure, and in which case i'd want whatever feature set is in iOS 7.0 when that came around.

get it now?

it doesn't matter what features are on it NOW, I want whatever features they'll add LATER. There will always be features to add no matter which OS you choose.

my phone "just works", but I sure as fuck aint gonna be mad if a year from now they make it work better

free updates > no updates

 

[Brian Stirling]

Some updates are less important than others. When I picked up the iP3G back in the summer of 2008 it did NOT have cut/copy/paste, but sometime later Apple released an update that provided, for the first time, cut/copy/paste. This update was important and if Apple had said they would only provide this update only with the next iPhone release they would have caught holy hell -- and rightly so!

The orphan issue is one of the major problem with Android phones and the problem lies not with Google but with the phone makers. It would be nice if the phone makers worked along side Google when a new update is nearing completion so that when Google is ready the makers can be ready to go.

In truth, of course, the phone makers are more interested in selling NEW phones and only devote enough effort on older phones to avoid really pissing off there customers. The phone makers love the fact that so many users simply buy the newest phone when it come out.

I'm glad this issue is being raised and I hope this kind of dialog puts more pressure on the makers to support there products better.


Brian

 

[alent1234]

I think part of the reason why iOS 5 runs better might be because of the new notification system. The animation for the notification is a 3D animation, and if it is to have even half a chance of being seamless while running on top of a 3D game, Apple has no choice but to optimize the graphics system further.

That also explains 8 beta before the final release. Even so, the final release still has some pretty obvious bugs.



Technically iMessage is not free if the other end doesn't have an iPhone running iOS 5. Which is the case for 99.99% of my contacts...

If the other end doesn't use an iPhone, then it's not free texting as much as saying IM is free...

Something like 40% of smartphones are on family plans. Apple knows exactly what they are doing.

Dumped my htc, got the 4s, updated my wife's 4 to ios 5 and cancelled the texting plan. $360 a year saved.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Something like 40% of smartphones are on family plans. Apple knows exactly what they are doing.

Dumped my htc, got the 4s, updated my wife's 4 to ios 5 and cancelled the texting plan. $360 a year saved.

Supposing you don't text anyone other than your wife, yeah. Terrific.

Unfortunately, email is too ancient in my world, and people still can't get rid of their Berries, or Noki... so I'm sometimes bombarded with texts helplessly. iMessage doesn't really help in those cases.

 

[Mopetar]

Features > Support

These are phones, they don't stop working when support stops. I'll take the one that features more.

The features are about the same and for the most part it comes down to preference for OS or hardware differences such as having a physical keyboard. Outside of a select few Android phones, they don't have anything beyond what the iPhone offers and as far as software concerns, anything that isn't included as a base can be found in their respective app stores.

Did iOS 5 add anything groundbreaking to the 3GS? Not really, but as it's been pointed out it makes the browser (and maybe the phone in general) run faster. I don't know if it's a deal breaker, but it does make me think that if I were to buy an iPhone that I could count on the experience improving over time, even if it's just existing functionality being streamlined.

Support for making existing features better is just as important as new features.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Supposing you don't text anyone other than your wife, yeah. Terrific.

Unfortunately, email is too ancient in my world, and people still can't get rid of their Berries, or Noki... so I'm sometimes bombarded with texts helplessly. iMessage doesn't really help in those cases.

hahaha an iPhone user complaining about getting sms from a bb user...

let me guess - three weeks there was no need for direct messaging, it wasn't an important feature, and you didn't care about it, but now it's a great reason to have an iPhone.

 

[alent1234]

Supposing you don't text anyone other than your wife, yeah. Terrific.

Unfortunately, email is too ancient in my world, and people still can't get rid of their Berries, or Noki... so I'm sometimes bombarded with texts helplessly. iMessage doesn't really help in those cases.

apple is after the market where mom and dad get 4S or 4 and the kids get the 3GS free on contract all with imessage to text each other. or just give the kids ipods and they can text via wifi

 

[lothar]

"Having all the features available from release > slow trickle of updates enabling those features."

Seems Android also has a slow trickle. The difference is it doesn't trickle down to all devices, or trickles down at a different pace depending on manufacturer.


and since you're so keen on hammering about features that takes years for a competitor to copy, how do you take a screen shot on an android phone?

Press the Home button and press the Power button a second later.
What's so hard about that?

And no, an app is not needed for that.

 

[lothar]

motorola wins the worst phone manufacturer award.

Seriously.
That's the only news in this report.

 

[Ns1]

Press the Home button and press the Power button a second later.
What's so hard about that?

And no, an app is not needed for that.

uh, isn't that a feature introduced in ICS...

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/1...ng-native-screenshot-capabilities-to-android/

 

[JD50]

Nope, if the iPhone launched with iOS 10, there would still be an iOS 11 the next year and I would still want an update to the new version as I expect everyone with an Android phone wants an update to ICS.

Wow, you're touchy. He's not mad, he just doesn't care. Neither does anyone else.

Edit - BTW, my wife has an Android phone, doesn't even know what ICS, and doesn't care about an update. I know what ICS is, but I don't really care about an update either. My Bionic works great.

 

[lothar]

uh, isn't that a feature introduced in ICS...

http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/1...ng-native-screenshot-capabilities-to-android/

My Samsung Galaxy SII does not have ICS yet...If it does then I'm missing out.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2194734&page=2&highlight=
How did I manage to take these screenshots without downloading or using any app?

 

[poofyhairguy]

My Samsung Galaxy SII does not have ICS yet...If it does then I'm missing out.

The SGS2 does it the same way as the iPhone:

http://tech.chitgoks.com/2011/08/03/how-to-take-a-screenshot-in-galaxy-s2/

 

[trmiv]

Native screen capture ability came out in Gingerbread 2.3.4. For a long time you had to root your phone and use an app to do it like Drocap2.

 

[badb0y]

im fine with you thinking that and being wrong about it

So if ICS was available to you, you wouldn't update to it? GTFO of here cause I know that's a lie.

Wow, you're touchy. He's not mad, he just doesn't care. Neither does anyone else.

Edit - BTW, my wife has an Android phone, doesn't even know what ICS, and doesn't care about an update. I know what ICS is, but I don't really care about an update either. My Bionic works great.

Just assessing the situation, his whole post was basically saying
"I don't have it so I don't care about it"

Good for him and you but there hoards of people who DO care about it.

It's like no matter what happens iOS/Apple does it can never do anything right in Phandroids eyes. Frequent update? Pfft it's just a number change plus I have all the features I want so i don't need it. Good battery life? Pfft I can change my battery lulz. Apple offering 64GB storage? Pfft I can change my microsd cards all day!

Pretty sure the Prime doesn't even have the microsd card slot anymore what is the justification of this? Don't need the extra space anymore?

The goal post seems to move everyday doesn't it.

 

[ponyo]

Native screen capture ability came out in Gingerbread 2.3.4. For a long time you had to root your phone and use an app to do it like Drocap2.

No, i9000 SGS could screen capture using back and home button since Froyo 2.2.

 

[lothar]

No, i9000 SGS could screen capture using back and home button since Froyo 2.2.

This.

 

[J-Money]

Geeze you android fanatics can't understand this can you or are somehow hurt to admit Apple does a good job on support? Please stop making us normal Android fans embarrassed to be associated with you.

You have TWO choices. Which is better?

1. Support
2. No support

No third magical choice. Just two choices. 1 or 2.

That's the whole point. Not whether it has x or y feature already or which phone is better. Just simply pick 1 or 2.

 

[JD50]

So if ICS was available to you, you wouldn't update to it? GTFO of here cause I know that's a lie.

Just assessing the situation, his whole post was basically saying
"I don't have it so I don't care about it"

Good for him and you but there hoards of people who DO care about it.

It's like no matter what happens iOS/Apple does it can never do anything right in Phandroids eyes. Frequent update? Pfft it's just a number change plus I have all the features I want so i don't need it. Good battery life? Pfft I can change my battery lulz. Apple offering 64GB storage? Pfft I can change my microsd cards all day!

Pretty sure the Prime doesn't even have the microsd card slot anymore what is the justification of this? Don't need the extra space anymore?

The goal post seems to move everyday doesn't it.

No, the "hoardes of people" don't care. They most likely don't even know what ICS is. If their phone works as advertised, they're happy.

As for the rest of your rant, I have no idea what you're going on about.

 

[JD50]

Geeze you android fanatics can't understand this can you or are somehow hurt to admit Apple does a good job on support? Please stop making us normal Android fans embarrassed to be associated with you.

You have TWO choices. Which is better?

1. Support
2. No support

No third magical choice. Just two choices. 1 or 2.

That's the whole point. Not whether it has x or y feature already or which phone is better. Just simply pick 1 or 2.

Support is obviously better, but most people don't care about support as long as their phone works like it did when they bought it. Honestly you sound like a closet Apple fan. "Apple" is a company, "Android" is not. There's no comparison.

 

[lothar]

Geeze you android fanatics can't understand this can you? Please stop making us normal Android fans embarrassed to be associated with you.

You have TWO choices. Which is better?

1. Support
2. No support

No third magical choice. Just two choices. 1 or 2.

That's the whole point. Not whether it has x or y feature already or which phone is better. Just simply pick 1 or 2.

Support from 3rd party ROM developers like Cyanogen.
Does that fall under 1 or 2? Whatever it falls under, I pick it.

The only thing that needs to be learned from this chart:
1.) Moto sucks with updates.
2.) Get an international phone so you won't be delayed by Verizon/AT&T/Sprint carrier updates or root your phone and load custom ROM's.
3.) See #1.

 

[gsaldivar]

Just assessing the situation, his whole post was basically saying "I don't have it so I don't care about it"

Your assessment is poor. Anubis said that most people don't care, and that's pretty damn accurate. I'd guess that 99% of Android users aren't losing any sleep over delayed updates.

In the time it takes an Apple fan to graduate from an iPhone 3gs to iPhone 4, a typical Android user might have tried out 3 or 4 phones from several different manufacturers. Why would the Android user be wringing their hands over lack of updates on an old ass phone that they have since replaced or gifted to someone else?

The point is that platform fragmentation isn't the deal breaker some people are making it out to be. Android phones are rapidly becoming a commodity. They are cheap, powerful, feature-rich devices that are easily customized and easily replaced.

Welcome to life outside the walled garden. :thumbsup:

 

[trmiv]

No, i9000 SGS could screen capture using back and home button since Froyo 2.2.

Your device may have been able to do it, but like I said, this wasn't an Android feature until 2.3.4, was supposed to come out in 2.3.3, but I never heard of it working on most devices. Some devices added the capability in their ROM earlier, but vanilla Android couldn't do it. I sure can't do it on my Droid with 2.2.2.

 

[gsaldivar]

Geeze you android fanatics can't understand this can you or are somehow hurt to admit Apple does a good job on support?

Your phone's manufacturer only has 2 or 3 models for sale and your only option on that platform is to wait for new software or a new model. If that makes you happy, then more power to you...