A co-worker excitedly told me today that his phone just got the update to Android Marshamallow today.

Good for him - but Nougat's been out for 7 months and Marshmallow's over a year old.

And I'm 95% certain the only reason he couldn't get it early was because of business agreements and contracts that prevent it.

How do you feel about that? (HONEST question.)

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manufacturers and then on top of that mulitple carriers


all 3 play their own little role in how and when you get updates

if having the latest and greatest software is important to you, theres enough information out there by now to know this is something you should look into before buying your phone


Then with android, you have almost free reign to do what you want, so theres nothing really stopping you from rooting your phone and putting whatever version of android you want on there.


so in summary, as a nexus 6p owner, I'm perfectly fine with the way android works these days as far as updates are concerned

Core apps update on their own schedule, through the Play store, outside the purview of both the OEM's and carriers.

Sure, there are going to be bells and whistles with the newest update. But major phone functionalities live in the core Google services, not in the UI-driven operating system. That means users on older versions of Android can still enjoy feature updates to Gmail/Maps/Home/Chrome/etc. even without needing the newest OS update. This has been the MO for Google starting with Ice Cream Sandwich. You supposedly use both operating systems, you should already know all this.

On the other hand, iOS core apps are all tied to OS updates. This is fine if you have the last version of the phone but with each OS update there are always reports of phones that are 2+ generations older that perform poorly with newer iterations of iOS. Anecdotally, my wife refuses to update her iPhone 6 to iOS 10 because of reports of user slowdown.

There are pros and cons to each system. But don't act all smug and try to use an argument from 2013 to assume some sort of weird Apple superiority complex.

(As a sidenote, it seems that the Pixel is doing Apple's "it just works" better than Apple these days. It's even got the camera beat.)

>There are pros and cons to each system. But don't act all
>smug and try to use an argument from 2013 to assume some sort
>of weird Apple superiority complex.
I'm an Apple guy - I don't need to convince my friend to switch. that's just more apple for me. No

He likes his phone, it's an S6 and he's kind of mad about not getting the latest/greatest on it without a "technological" reason. And thinks a month or a few month's delay would be more understandable than over a year.

Is he mad enough to switch? Not even close.

But he paid for his phone, he pays for his service and he doesn't understand why it took so long. He think's the update situation is stupid and it sucks. I wonder how many other people shared that sentiment - or is he an outlier?

As for the Pixel - that might work for him as his next phone because he is on Verizon - but I have other friends not on Verizon where that's not an option for them (again because of a business agreement between the maker of an Android phone and a carrier.)

yes, unsubsidized is an upfront cost, but it's not a CONTRACT AGREEMENT BETWEEN A MAKE AND A CARRIER crisis

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so I'm pretty sure either he didn't take the update for some reason, or he misunderstood/you misunderstood the more recent 6.0.1 bugfix update that recently released.

The last verizon GS6 update was in september https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/software-updates/

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

And I answered it honestly. You proposed a flawed premise (lack of updates for Android phones) and I corrected you. It sounds like your coworker is misinformed about the nature of Android updates and I gave you information to correct him. Maybe he would appreciate that he can update his apps with granularity, instead of once a year. Maybe you should be "honest" with him and point out that the specific advantage Android has when it can update its apps independent of OS version.

>On the other hand, iOS core apps are all tied to OS updates.
>This is fine if you have the last version of the phone but
>with each OS update there are always reports of phones that
>are 2+ generations older that perform poorly with newer
>iterations of iOS. Anecdotally, my wife refuses to update her
>iPhone 6 to iOS 10 because of reports of user slowdown.



well whaddya know

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Glad my wife switched to a Pixel earlier this year

class action

the truth is no one cares what phones get updates other than the one they have.

most of the issue is felt by developers who have to target varying levels of capabilities, but that's just how it is.



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Maybe you should ask your readers about it?

Could be that wally's right and they know that buying the phone doesn't entitle them to shit and they should know what to do before buying it.

My friend didn't like it -actually several friends and coworkers - but I guess they're outliers?? And asking questions to other people has an agenda.

Hell the guy who uses Windows phone was salty about his lack of updates too - but there's a technological reason for it in his case.

So, let me apologize - I will not question anything done by any company other than Apple ever again. Because of my agenda. <-Tell me off now wally.

other than the one he has.

also, the fact that said update came out six months ago seems to negate whatever bad feeling your friend thinks they have.


www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

If it were all that important, I'd get a Pixel

I care about it on phones like the Moto X Pure (because Android 7.0 has features the "skinned" versions of Android have had for years) and the Samsung phones because their UI is moving to the one on the Note 7.

otherwise, eh. if it's on an OS that can run Android Auto I'm good

most updates don't really impact my day-to-day usage, so I'm cool. just as long as my phone works as expected, the updates don't really matter much.

a three year old phone

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cause hes got some locked down half version of android

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Huge.

If my phone can’t update to the new Funfetti Rainbow Chip Frosting version I sell blood, mow lawns, and turn tricks to scrape up enough money for one that can.

I just don’t know what it is but even though my apps work fine, I can still make phone calls, texts, browse the internet, watch Netflix, etc all on Lollipop I just feel like such a loser if I’m not updated to the latest, greatest confectionary moniker.

LOL

Anyone who really cares about their phone OS version like that an embarrassingly huge dork If this actually matters to anyone beyond a real security threat or compatibility issue, i.e, a certain game or app or function you use/need won’t work on an older version.

It doesn’t make you a bad person.

It just make you a huge dork and not in a proud, Comicon attending "nerds are in now" kind of way but in a way that makes a father seriously consider adoption as a means of securing the family name through the next generation.