Android owners getting stiffed on OS updates

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myopinion

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#92181 28-Oct-2011 08:37

An interesting article on Android users in the US not getting upgrades to their phones. Basically most users are at least 2 versions behind. This is in stark contrast to iOS users who get minor and major updates for at least a couple of years.

How are NZ Android users getting treated?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20126547-93/android-owners-getting-stiffed-on-os-updates-study-claims/?tag=cnetRiver

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#538508 28-Oct-2011 08:44

That's the problem with a business model where manufacturers have the ability to customise their OS. Massive market fragmentation.

kiwitrc

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#538509 28-Oct-2011 08:50

I think you will find that is more due to the US carriers not releasing updates to their customers. With an Android phone you can root (I see you are an apple user so jailbreak in your language) your phone and get the updates from a number of places.

I would guess the the majority of Android users on GZ would be running whatever firmware version they want regardless of where they got their phones.

myopinion

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#538512 28-Oct-2011 08:53

I tried Android before moving to iPhone for our business and did plenty of rooting so I understand that updates are possible, manually. However this is great for us Geeks but no good for the 99% of other users. This is one of the reasons I decided to use iOS and not Android here at work.

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#538517 28-Oct-2011 09:00

One thing to also consider in is the huge numer of iOS users who have never updated their devices. While Apple make updates available, it would be safe to say the vast majority of users have never upgraded. Had they done so, many of the network issues that people face due to Apple's historically poor radio software could be minimised.

myopinion

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#538520 28-Oct-2011 09:05

Yes I agree alot of users wouldn't update their iOS devices especially if they don't plug them into iTunes often. With iOS 5 this should change with OTA updates. However I'm not sure if there will be a notification of an avaiable update or whether the user will have to inititate the request to update (that would be dumb).

Android obviously has the ability to do OTA updates but users are still missing out.

jonherries

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#538538 28-Oct-2011 09:36

This is interesting reading:

http://9to5mac.com/2011/01/17/developer-stats-say-90-of-ios-device-users-run-ios-4-x/

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#538545 28-Oct-2011 09:48

With regards to android missing out on OTA updates I believe HTC have been doing OTA for a over a year now, I think the SGS2 has the ability to be updated OTA as well now.

But yeah it frustrates me how slow some of the updates take to make it to devices, and that fact that places like telecom were still selling 1.5 or 1.6 devices not too long ago doesn't help the the old os fade

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#538554 28-Oct-2011 10:00

ICS is supposed to help with this issue. To what extent remains to be seen.

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#538556 28-Oct-2011 10:02

jonherries: This is interesting reading:

http://9to5mac.com/2011/01/17/developer-stats-say-90-of-ios-device-users-run-ios-4-x/

Not sure thats all that interesting, its old (January 2011) it compares iOS4 (includes all iOS variants 4.0, 4.1 etc) to the latest (at that point in time) release of Android (2.3 which had been out for just over a month) and not Android 2.x. If they were to compare iOS4 to Android2 then the numbers were pretty similar.

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#538573 28-Oct-2011 10:31

That is one of the reasons I choose to stay with a Google Experience Device like the N1. I always get the updates in a timely fashion.

I have spent time with the HTC Sensation and while it's a nice handset I just know that it's going to be some time before it gets ICS. OTOH the Nexus S will get it OTA and the Nexus Prime has it on release.

But then for most folks the updates are not that important and they are happy with the stock ROM that came with the phone Those who are not either work out how to load early release ROMS or go the custom route.

I have never rooted my N1 or loaded anything but stock and that's been just fine for me.

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#538589 28-Oct-2011 10:53

The following pie chart is based on the number of Android devices that have accessed Android Market within a 14-day period ending on the data collection date noted below.

Data collected during a 14-day period ending on October 3, 2011

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myopinion

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#538591 28-Oct-2011 10:56

This chart may not be an accurate representation of the overall Android market as users who are not active in the Android market place are probably the same users who do not upgrade their devices?

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#538593 28-Oct-2011 10:59

myopinion: This chart may not be an accurate representation of the overall Android market as users who are not active in the Android market place are probably the same users who do not upgrade their devices?

Tend to agree here, it doesnt really reflect the upgrade rates as much as the uptake rate for Android.

mattRSK

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#538600 28-Oct-2011 11:10

I think the default phone setting is to check the market for updates to things like Google maps. So I would say that this is pretty accurate.

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#538610 28-Oct-2011 11:26

myopinion: I tried Android before moving to iPhone for our business and did plenty of rooting so I understand that updates are possible, manually. However this is great for us Geeks but no good for the 99% of other users. This is one of the reasons I decided to use iOS and not Android here at work.

I can't use iOS because it won't let me copy files on / off the phone directly via WiFi. I also like the 4.5" screen on my phone....and the glasses-free 3D display and 3D camera for stills and video.

My LG Optimus 3D phone runs Android v2.2. There is supposed to be an update soon, but honestly I'm not fussed It's ten kinds of awesome just as it is.

I like to distinguish between the relative and the absolute.

Relatively, the phone isn't the latest version.

Absolutely, the phone does all I want it to do and is compatible with all the Android apps I want to run - which is much more than iOS is capable of (no 3D / smaller screen / can't freely access external data) - just as it is.

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