Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support

[vshah]

it's the nature of an open source system. If you give others the ability to customize android to their liking, from that point onwards the update schedule is out of your hands. The best you can do is provide an alternative that you control fully, which google does in the Nexus line.

say there's a new linux kernel version. how long does it take to get integrated into every distribution of linux out there?

I think that's the reason, but I still very much wish manufacturers would release more stock android devices with faster updates to complement whatever value they see added by their skins etc.

 

[Anubis]

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.

actually is me saying i dont fing care

not sure why you cant understand that

 

[trmiv]

All I know for sure is zinfamous must have been really bored around midnight pacific time last night!

 

[Fire&Blood]

it's the nature of an open source system. If you give others the ability to customize android to their liking, from that point onwards the update schedule is out of your hands. The best you can do is provide an alternative that you control fully, which google does in the Nexus line.

say there's a new linux kernel version. how long does it take to get integrated into every distribution of linux out there?

I think that's the reason, but I still very much wish manufacturers would release more stock android devices with faster updates to complement whatever value they see added by their skins etc.

Agreed. Your last paragraph raises the issue that that's been bugging me over the past few years.

I simply don't comprehend the OEM's desire to differentiate as much as they do. I firmly believe that one can differ their products from others through design language alone.

Sense, touchwiz and blur are overkill IMO. The software distinction shouldn't go beyond lockscreens, wallpapers, weather, clock and social media widgets. Those should all be apps that you can uninstall to reveal the stock Android core. There are some useful elements to these skins but they should be in the form of apps. It's not like I would forget what brand my phone is without these skins, the major indicators should all be in form of apps and that way OEM's could still differ if they insist on it yet make the upgrade process so much easier.

There is also the issue with carriers and I respect Apple for telling them to fuck off. I despise the bloat departments of all carriers. Unfortunately it's difficult for OEM's to risk much there because carriers can simply pick the next one in line. T-Mobile's SGS2 has over 20 uninstallable bloat apps, it's ridiculous. Not only would the updates be implemented faster on the OEM side, the additional carrier caused delay would be gone too because time wouldn't be wasted on making sure that apps that no one uses anyway are compatible with the OS.

 

[MrX8503]

lol, the excuses people come up with. Android gets very little support and iOS gets a lot of support. One platform has many devices the other has a few, end of story.

 

[CVSiN]

lol, the excuses people come up with. Android gets very little support and iOS gets a lot of support. One platform has many devices the other has a few, end of story.

alot?

again uninformed FUD.

Google releases its updates just as fast as Apple..

The difference is most Google updates are far from mindblowing updates..
the differences in overlay versions is far more than what the OS is actually improving..

Sense 2.0 vs 3.0 is amazing for example..

I also prefer Sense to vanilla android.

and again.. the difference between Iphones and Androids is the majority of Androids are rooted and you DON'T HAVE TO WAIT FOR A VENDOR ROM..

just flash whatever you want. if the hardware can support it you can flash it..
Im running the exact same OS version the EVO 3D is running on my regular EVO.

 

[Red Storm]

Apple doesn't release stand alone feature updates do they? Correct me if I'm wrong, but they save them for the big iOS updates. I know Google has released updates for Maps and Voice, adding new features independently from Android updates.

 

[MrX8503]

alot?

again uninformed FUD.

Google releases its updates just as fast as Apple..

The difference is most Google updates are far from mindblowing updates..
the differences in overlay versions is far more than what the OS is actually improving..

Sense 2.0 vs 3.0 is amazing for example..

I also prefer Sense to vanilla android.

and again.. the difference between Iphones and Androids is the majority of Androids are rooted and you DON'T HAVE TO WAIT FOR A VENDOR ROM..

just flash whatever you want. if the hardware can support it you can flash it..
Im running the exact same OS version the EVO 3D is running on my regular EVO.

Again, another excuse. No, the difference is that most Android phones don't get official updates from Google. If they do get support its not in a timely manner.

I'm sure the everyday consumer root their Android devices too. Talk about FUD.

Apple doesn't release stand alone feature updates do they? Correct me if I'm wrong, but they save them for the big iOS updates. I know Google has released updates for Maps and Voice, adding new features independently from Android updates.

iOS4 and iOS 5 add features, everything between can be bug fixes and minor speed bumps.

 

[zinfamous]

All I know for sure is zinfamous must have been really bored around midnight pacific time last night!

:d

I couldn't leave this thread for some reason. Got home late, watched the end of the game, started reading AT...

 

[Ns1]

No.

It's a Samsung feature.

It was recently "introduced" with Galaxy Nexus as part of ICS...because it's a Samsung Phone. Google liked it, so it became part of ICS.

so what you're saying is, it's a free feature added as part of an update...

Did iPhones upgrade OTA during most of that time?

Nope, but we can now thanks to free updates to our phones.

 

[Anubis]

honeycomb had native screenshot ability
you hold down teh app switch button

 

[Ns1]

honeycomb had native screenshot ability
you hold down teh app switch button

Regardless of when Android got the native screenshot ability, the point remains that it was a feature added as part of an update.

also, if HC had native screenshot ability wtf is up with headlines like this?

Android Ice Cream Sandwich to arrive with native screenshot app

This feature will let users take screenshots without having to rely on third party applications.

http://www.knowyourmobile.in/news/1...ich_to_arrive_with_native_screenshot_app.html

 

[Anubis]

i cant tell you. but my transformer has always been able to do it. maybe its Asus, IDK but the option has always been there

 

[Ns1]

i cant tell you. but my transformer has always been able to do it. maybe its Asus, IDK but the option has always been there

then my googlefu says that honeycomb did not come with a native screenshot feature, and it was a specific transformer feature added in 3.1

 

[Zaap]

Nope, but we can now thanks to free updates to our phones.

A perfect illustration of why this is the wackiest of pissing contests of all.

So according to this pissing contest, I'm supposed to feel my Android phone is missing 'support' when instead of NOT having a basic feature up until an update added it this month- I HAD the feature the whole time I've had the phone. (Along with others I listed before.)

This is just the most bizzare dick-measuring contest of them all.

Like I said- I think some people only thought of this as some sort of boost to their "Phone ego" upon seeing this thread, and not ONCE, ever before that.

 

[Red Storm]

Well even if it was native to HC, it would still be listed as a feature of ICS because HC doesn't apply to phones.

 

[ultimatebob]

Nope. But in their 3rd year, they still got support and were updated to the major version at that time. It's now past 4th year for the 2G, 3G is approaching its 4th, 3GS is approaching its 3rd, and iPhone 4 is now over a year old. In about 7-8 months, iPhone 4 would be on past its second year, and 3GS will be well over 3 years old.

In its 3rd year, the iPhone 2G was still running 3.x with 3G and 3GS. 3G was still running iOS 4.x with 3GS and 4. And now 3GS is still running iOS 5.x with 4 and 4S. I'd expect 5 to be the last iOS 3GS gets, but it's been through 2 major revisions and a lot of smaller revisions already.

I don't think that first two 4.x updates should count for the iPhone 3G. They performed so poorly on the phone that most people either downgraded back to iOS 3.x or just got a new phone.

That said, Motorola has been doing a great job keeping their phones up to date. My Droid X has been updated from 2.1 to 2.2 to 2.3 in the year that I've owned it, and my wife's Droid has been updated four times from 2.0 to 2.2.2 in the 18 months that she's had it. It seems that the Droid won't be getting any more updates, but I'd be surprised if the Droid X doesn't get at least one more.

 

[Ns1]

A perfect illustration of why this is the wackiest of pissing contests of all.

So according to this pissing contest, I'm supposed to feel my Android phone is missing 'support' when instead of NOT having a basic feature up until an update added it this month- I HAD the feature the whole time I've had the phone. (Along with others I listed before.)

you're missing the point entirely because you're getting bogged down by the specifics (or too busy pointing out things that your android phone can do from day 1 that the iPhone can't)

Android users are getting shafted because there is no guarantee of getting whatever features the next OS update will have; it doesn't matter what features your phone has now because there will always be features added later on.

the argument "my phone had all these features from day 1!" is weak. If your phone had all these features from day 1, why bother coming up with Gingerbread/HC/ICS in the first place? Clearly FroYo was just as good!

You're walking very close to personal attack line. Things have been heated but not out of hand so far, let's keep it that way.
Moderator TheStu

 

[Ns1]

sorry teh stu

imma just leave this thread now.


Summary of Ns1's thoughts.

free updates > no updates; doesn't matter what features the OS has now cuz I want whatever features they come up with tomorrow.

 

[Zaap]

you're missing the point entirely because you're getting bogged down by the specifics (or too busy pointing out things that your android phone can do from day 1 that the iPhone can't)

So in other words, I like a lot of other people simply don't care about this. I see it as a 100% manufactured issue that has no real world bearing on me.

Android users are getting shafted because there is no guarantee of getting whatever features the next OS update will have; it doesn't matter what features your phone has now because there will always be features added later on.

I think what maybe you're missing is that most owners of fairly decent Android phones aren't waiting on updates to get missing features. Many already have the features they want. If not, they buy a new phone.

And by the way, it's pretty much the same on the iPhone.

Did Apple drop Siri as an update for everyone? Uh, no. If you want it- YOU BUY A NEW PHONE.

Ironically, I know of more iPhone owners with this update dilemma than I do Android owners. (IE: if you already have an iPhone 4, is it worth getting the 4S just for Siri and other improvements.)

For many Android owners, we're only (practically) looking to update because a new phone is going to be better/faster/bigger, etc. It's not just because of the OS updates adding features, and especially not things we already have.

In other words: there's no real pissing contest to be made of this. There's just a difference between the relationship of 'support' vs. features with Android vs. iOS, but I see no overall evidence that one side (as a whole, not per model of phone) is getting 'screwed over'.

the argument "my phone had all these features from day 1!" is weak.

The 'argument' "my phone just got an update a few weeks ago adding a feature you've had since day 1" is even weaker.

If your phone had all these features from day 1, why bother coming up with Gingerbread/HC/ICS in the first place? Clearly FroYo was just as good!

Gingerbread added better cut and paste options, and made my phone a bit 'snappier'. I didn't miss out on it, so the whole argument that I somehow got 'screwed over' is pointless. I didn't. I care that someone else's LGMotoSung Levitate1 or whatever may not have gotten a Gingerbread update about as much as you care that someone's iPhone 4 didn't get Siri, or that someone else's 3GS didn't magically sprout a retina display delivered by iTunes.

 

[runawayprisoner]

I don't think that first two 4.x updates should count for the iPhone 3G. They performed so poorly on the phone that most people either downgraded back to iOS 3.x or just got a new phone.

True, but it got updates all the way up to 4.2.1. At which point, some of the performance problems of the earlier iOS 4 versions were fixed.

4.3 wasn't available for the 3G for some reason. It fixed some of the nagging performance problems of 4.2.1.

And iOS 5 further optimized on what 4.3 was. I'd think iOS 5 is about as lightweight to an iPhone 3GS as iOS 3 was. 4 was... just bad overall.

 

[ultimatebob]

Did Apple drop Siri as an update for everyone? Uh, no. If you want it- YOU BUY A NEW PHONE.

Sorry, but this one pisses me off. My iPad 2 has basically the same hardware inside of it as an iPhone 4S, so why aren't they supporting it on the iPad as well?

 

[zinfamous]

I was under the impression that Siri was an app widely available at the app store for ~1 year before Apple decided to make it a built-in feature with 4S...after some improvements, I assume.

 

[Red Storm]

I was under the impression that Siri was an app widely available at the app store for ~1 year before Apple decided to make it a built-in feature with 4S...after some improvements, I assume.

As far as I know yes, but they also removed the previous app from the market, which stopped anything not called a 4S from being able to get that new feature.

Speaking of which, the latest Apple commercials all seem to be about Siri, a feature from iOS 5 that isn't "supported" on anything but the newest iPhone.

 

[manly]

Sorry, but this one pisses me off. My iPad 2 has basically the same hardware inside of it as an iPhone 4S, so why aren't they supporting it on the iPad as well?

probably because they wanted it to be a tent pole feature of the new 4S, to goose sales. Siri is still in public beta, pretty much everybody expects it to make its way to the iPad 2 next year.

CVSiN actually argued the majority of Android devices are rooted, hah!

Couple points, a primary defense of Android here seems to be with custom ROMs, AT members couldn't care less about OEM updates. Fair enough, but that really doesn't work for the typical consumer. I don't remember the exact stats, but iOS users actually upgrade at a relatively high percentage even though it historically required updating through iTunes. Point being that even with some inconvenience (vs OTA updating), a LOT of typical consumers will upgrade their smartphone OS if given reasons to do so. If anything, custom ROMs lends support to this argument, within a geekier subset of end users.

As far as I know yes, but they also removed the previous app from the market, which stopped anything not called a 4S from being able to get that new feature.

Speaking of which, the latest Apple commercials all seem to be about Siri, a feature from iOS 5 that isn't "supported" on anything but the newest iPhone.

Because Apple is trying to sell new iPhones? I don't see them rolling out a TV ad highlighting new notifications or a better camera.