How do you android guys deal with the constant upgrade cycle?

[slackerinabox]

I've been pretty anti-android (own a windows phone, prefer iOs and it's integrated marketplace and accessories ecosystem) but my nexus 7 really converted me - my concerns about smoothness have been worked out, and android no longer looks like a cheap iOS clone - good work talent hired from WebOs! I like jelly bean so took a leap and ordered a Galaxy Nexus. I know it's not cutting edge but it was a nice mix of hardware and software for THE TIME.. "The time" being last week, now this new LG phone made my middle-of-the-road phone an antique before it's even shipped (seriously, google play store - you need to take lessons from amazon on order fulfillment). And I just bought a mid-tier phone, I imagine I'd be more annoyed if I bought a Galaxy S3 or a HTC One X.

My wife is still on an iPhone 4 and hasn't felt left out for a few upgrade cycles (iPhone "5S" is probably the generation she'll upgrade to - that's quite a few years). Progress stops for no one, for sure, but is this spec race getting tiring to anyone else?

**update**
humble pie time - got my galaxy nexus, upgraded to jelly bean, and have absolutely no reason to worry about it being antiquated. Love this phone- it's really an outstanding piece of work and feels better in my hand than the gs3. Anyways, yeah, I regret nothing!

 

[Spoooon]

I would feel left out had I purchased a locked down device. To a certain extent, the software matters more than the hardware.

The only thing I get really jealous about is the improved battery life of some of the newer devices.

 

[RedRooster]

I would feel left out had I purchased a locked down device. To a certain extent, the software matters more than the hardware.

The only thing I get really jealous about is the improved battery life of some of the newer devices.

Agreed. I'll take the slower always updated phone over the state of the art running manufacturer garbage UIs and bloatware. And really, unless you're running 3D games, the super mega phones on the cutting edge really aren't that much better.
Just saying, if my only choice to get to try out Android was an S3 or an LG something with both their junk on it, I'd go back to WP7/8.

 

[WelshBloke]

When a new device comes out your old one doesn't become magically slower.

 

[jpeyton]

A few things to note:

iOS has not evolved at the pace that Android has. That keeps older devices relevant longer.

iPhone

iPhone 5

The difference is not exactly earth-shattering, especially for 5 years in the rapidly evolving tech industry.

Android 1.0

Android 4.1

As tech enthusiasts, we should always, unequivocally support pushing the envelope at the hardware and software level. Mobile computing is in its infancy. The stuff we'll see 10 or 15 years down the road would boggle our minds today, but we can't get there if we handicap ourselves with slower upgrade cycles.

 

[WelshBloke]

A few things to note:

iOS has not evolved at the pace that Android has. That keeps older devices relevant longer.

iPhone

iPhone 5

The difference is not exactly earth-shattering, especially for 5 years in the rapidly evolving tech industry.

...

Dude!

Wallpapers AND an extra row of icons!!!11!!01!

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Dude!

Wallpapers AND an extra row of icons!!!11!!01!

Lol so true

 

[bearxor]

A few things to note:

iOS has not evolved at the pace that Android has. That keeps older devices relevant longer.

iPhone

iPhone 5

The difference is not exactly earth-shattering, especially for 5 years in the rapidly evolving tech industry.

Android 1.0

Android 4.1

As tech enthusiasts, we should always, unequivocally support pushing the envelope at the hardware and software level. Mobile computing is in its infancy. The stuff we'll see 10 or 15 years down the road would boggle our minds today, but we can't get there if we handicap ourselves with slower upgrade cycles.

Ok...

So you took a picture of iPhone's home screen... And compared it to an iPhone 5's home screen.

And then you took a G1's home screen and compared it to a Galaxy Nexus' Notification Shade, Bookmarks widget and task manager.

What was wrong with using this as the comparison?

Just sayin'...

You know, just because there' absolutely no way to replicate any of that functionality on an iPhone.

 

[gorcorps]

I make due with roms that give my phone new life. Or I just check the price of the latest & greatest and am rarely interested in spending $500 on 8 months worth of "evolution"

 

[Jynxed]

Progress stops for no one, for sure, but is this spec race getting tiring to anyone else?

Spec race getting tiring? Apple is one of the only thing companies they don't charge forward. They do it so they can reap higher profit margins as their production process matures and wholesale prices drop on components over the products life cycle. It's one of the reasons they are the most profitable companies on the planet.

Does the spec race tire you in regards to:

Computers
TV's
Operating systems
Business models
Fashion
Cars
Motorcycles
Coffee Makers
Routers
etc.

 

[runawayprisoner]

...And really, unless you're running 3D games, the super mega phones on the cutting edge really aren't that much better...

I actually beg to differ. Faster processor speed allows for more responsive operation.

You probably haven't seen one or two of those instances when the iPhone just wakes up (iPhone 4S, by the way), and the processor can't keep up with user's "swipe to unlock" gesture, eh?

Happens all the time. Most of it is due to the system trying to clean up RAM...

So every last bit of performance actually does count. Until Apple has figured out how to make it so that the phone does not lag, stutter, or become unresponsive down the line, there is always room for improvement.

If not, people wouldn't be able to comment about how "fast" the next generation feels... since current generation already feels "fast enough".

 

[waggy]

I've been pretty anti-android (own a windows phone, prefer iOs and it's integrated marketplace and accessories ecosystem) but my nexus 7 really converted me - my concerns about smoothness have been worked out, and android no longer looks like a cheap iOS clone - good work talent hired from WebOs! I like jelly bean so took a leap and ordered a Galaxy Nexus. I know it's not cutting edge but it was a nice mix of hardware and software for THE TIME.. "The time" being last week, now this new LG phone made my middle-of-the-road phone an antique before it's even shipped (seriously, google play store - you need to take lessons from amazon on order fulfillment). And I just bought a mid-tier phone, I imagine I'd be more annoyed if I bought a Galaxy S3 or a HTC One X.

My wife is still on an iPhone 4 and hasn't felt left out for a few upgrade cycles (iPhone "5S" is probably the generation she'll upgrade to - that's quite a few years). Progress stops for no one, for sure, but is this spec race getting tiring to anyone else?

so the fact that apple is slower to give it's users newer interface and hardware is a good thing?

 

[vi edit]

iPhone http://profy.com/wp-content/blogs.di...2/iphone_1.gif iPhone 5 http://cdn-static.zdnet.com/i/librar...e-iphone-5.jpg The difference is not exactly earth-shattering, especially for 5 years in the rapidly evolving tech industry. Android 1.0 http://www.androidfools.com/wp-conte...__android1.jpg Android 4.1 http://www.techshout.com/img/android-jelly-bean-01.jpg

I could argue that Windows hasn't changed significantly in almost 20 years, yet it still has an overwhelming amount of market space. At least with an iPhone you are likely guaranteed OS support and without need of a psuedo-hack to do it for several years post purchase.

With Android if you are an average user you are likely stuck with whatever OS version ships on it. There's no easy way to update it and you are totally at the mercy of the hardware vendor and/or wireless company to push it through.

 

[Dominato3r]

I'd say the software upgrade cycle is the biggest issue with Android phones. I can deal with having older hardware, but outdated software really annoys me.

 

[lothar]

I actually beg to differ. Faster processor speed allows for more responsive operation.

You probably haven't seen one or two of those instances when the iPhone just wakes up (iPhone 4S, by the way), and the processor can't keep up with user's "swipe to unlock" gesture, eh?

Happens all the time. Most of it is due to the system trying to clean up RAM...

So every last bit of performance actually does count. Until Apple has figured out how to make it so that the phone does not lag, stutter, or become unresponsive down the line, there is always room for improvement.

If not, people wouldn't be able to comment about how "fast" the next generation feels... since current generation already feels "fast enough".

I was under the impression that there is no lag, stuttering, or unresponsiveness in iOS...

 

[Spoooon]

I could argue that Windows hasn't changed significantly in almost 20 years, yet it still has an overwhelming amount of market space. At least with an iPhone you are likely guaranteed OS support and without need of a psuedo-hack to do it for several years post purchase.

With Android if you are an average user you are likely stuck with whatever OS version ships on it. There's no easy way to update it and you are totally at the mercy of the hardware vendor and/or wireless company to push it through.

His point was just that, for an iPhone user, there are reasons for why one may feel more insulated from the spec race.

For the typical Android user, it's as you say: get a new phone if you want the latest version. Or start googling around for rooting and what not. So you may be more painfully aware of each iteration of hardware.

 

[jpeyton]

And then you took a G1's home screen and compared it to a Galaxy Nexus' Notification Shade, Bookmarks widget and task manager.

Fair enough, here is the iPhone task manager:

In my defense, I already had two pictures of a home screen with rows of icons, and I thought a third would be redundant.

 

[ponyo]

The fast pace of Android upgrade cycle is the best part of Android. You think it's a weakness. It's actually its strength. Unlike iOS and the iPhone, you do not have to wait a year to get new hardware and hold off on your upgrade. Companies are constantly fighting for your dollar and trying to outdo each other and that brings choice and innovation. But as a consumer, you do have to do little more homework for Android. But the payoff is greater. But not everyone wants that and the runaway iPhone success is proof of that. But I don't need my hand held and I can make my own decision. So I vastly prefer the quick pace of the Android upgrade cycle. It reminds me of my childhood, the exciting PC revolution of the 80s to early 2000.

 

[waggy]

With Android if you are an average user you are likely stuck with whatever OS version ships on it. There's no easy way to update it and you are totally at the mercy of the hardware vendor and/or wireless company to push it through.

and some are better then others. i hear bad things about Verizon. they refuse to update some phones to try to force users to upgrade phones.

If you don't want to mod your phone you don't always get the best software.

I think its bullshit. i hate how vendors lock down phones.

 

[runawayprisoner]

I was under the impression that there is no lag, stuttering, or unresponsiveness in iOS...

There is lag, stutter, and unresponsiveness in iOS.

Apple is just very good at masking it, but it does show... occasionally.

And when that happens, it's very annoying, because the difference between when it lags and when it doesn't lag is stark.

It gets worse as the phone gets more bogged by having more **** apps installed. I swear, some developers don't know how to deal with memory management, and since Xcode defaults to "background" instead of "close down" ever since iOS 4.0, you can bet that some of those **** apps leak memory like crazy. That eventually causes the system to have a nervous breakdown.

It's only worse on Android because Android... has no memory management to speak of. You leave it entirely up to the OS to deal with.

 

[Spoooon]

There is lag, stutter, and unresponsiveness in iOS.

And when that happens, it's very annoying, because the difference between when it lags and when it doesn't lag is stark.

It gets worse as the phone gets more bogged by having more **** apps installed. I swear, some developers don't know how to deal with memory management, and since Xcode defaults to "background" instead of "close down" ever since iOS 4.0, you can bet that some of those **** apps leak memory like crazy. That eventually causes the system to have a nervous breakdown.

My wife rages so much when her 4S acts up. What's funny is that, when she had her Palm Pixi, she was just so used to the sluggishness that it didn't matter.

 

[zephxiii]

The OP is kinda silly. You are witnessing the progression of technology. My iPhone4 feels long in tooth primarily due to it being laggy in a lot of situations. I don't even think my Nexus One lags like that...though it's problem is not having enough internal storage space.\

I also recently used my old 3GS....that phone....bad battery life, screen looks terrible in comparison to today, GPS sensitivity was meh, no HSUPA, camera was blah, processing power is a fraction of what today's devices have...that thing just felt old!!

I was under the impression that there is no lag, stuttering, or unresponsiveness in iOS...

hahaha NOT AT ALL. My iPhone 4 is one laggy mother&$!*er at times!! Drives me insane. I think i can blame iOS5 for that...seems like apples latest version always seems to make your older device slower so that it forces u to buy the newer faster one!! LOL

In addition they always seem to leave features out on the older devices when the new iOS rolls round, making u even more envious for the new device!

 

[slackerinabox]

Spec race getting tiring? Apple is one of the only thing companies they don't charge forward. They do it so they can reap higher profit margins as their production process matures and wholesale prices drop on components over the products life cycle. It's one of the reasons they are the most profitable companies on the planet.

Does the spec race tire you in regards to:

Computers
TV's
Operating systems
Business models
Fashion
Cars
Motorcycles
Coffee Makers
Routers
etc.

See, I don't care if the underlying OS remains consistent - I actually prefer not having to relearn (I'm not accusing android of being difficult, I'm not picking a side just stating a preference). I want the apps to evolve, which I feel both do a good job with. iOs does have the lead on games and rich media apps in my opinion, but that's not my point - consistency isn't terrible. Windows 95 and Windows 7 aren't startlingly different, which I like. Windows 8? I'm a little scared of it.

I don't get what's offensive about a wall of icons if it gets the job done quickly. I'm not saying it's better than android's approach, I just don't want to have to deal with 3d first person interfaces that take longer to find things in just because it looks prettier.

 

[runawayprisoner]

My wife rages so much when her 4S acts up. What's funny is that, when she had her Palm Pixi, she was just so used to the sluggishness that it didn't matter.

I know, right?

"Graaahhhh! Your app's transition animation is 50ms behind my finger! Unacceptable!"

It's not like I can't make it completely lag-free, but some of it is not my fault because the OS sometimes takes its time to purge unused apps and such as well, and that causes the lag.

It's not that bad on iPhone, but... on the iPad 3? Brrr... 1GB of RAM for 4x larger image assets is just...

On Android? 512MB actually feels more like 256MB because some apps constantly run in the background and eat up an ungodly amount of memory... while not allowing the OS to "deal" with them. Not to mention some phones "permanently" reserve a part of that 512MB for its VRAM.

So I think there is a legitimate reason for the specs race... and especially so on Android.

 

[jpeyton]

See, I don't care if the underlying OS remains consistent

Consistency breeds complacency. Android did task switching and the notification bar/shade before iOS borrowed those features; those are things we can't live without, now.

I much prefer to live in a world where Android's rapid progression is keeping iOS closely in its wake, vs dead in the water.