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Comment by drivingmenuts | Hacker News Reader

And that friends is why I went back to iOS. Once again I tried android and discovered that it was about two versions or more behind on the device I purchased.

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And the fact that Android is way more popular than iOs shows that most people simply don't know or care what version of Android they have because it makes almost no difference to how the apps they use work. If you care then you should have spent a few minutes research and bought a Nexus or a device from a manufacturer who is more prompt with updates.

The fact Android is way more popular than iOS can be used to support any conjecture about user preferences.

The ASP of Android devices is far lower than that of iOS devices.

Android is popular because it appeals to price sensitive consumers who are by far the majority. IOS sells mostly to people who are not primarily price sensitive.

That's it.

I don't know what ASP is and attempts to explain away how Android is far more popular than iOs are neither interesting nor relevant to this discussion (how did Apple get a massive head start if most consumers are price concious?); the fact is, if people were upset about Android updates it would result in people not using Android (which is manifestly not the case) and it would be addressed by Google (which it is not doing).

If the people are upset with their Ford, they'll buy BMW! Nope, doesn't make any sense!

No, but it you change BMW to another make of car that doesn't have the same level of stigma it makes perfect sense.

How about Mercedes, or Porsche?

ASP is Average Selling Price. If you don't know what it is, how can you know whether it is relevant or not?

Apple got a massive head start because there were plenty of non price sensitive consumers to sell to.

Android overtook iOS because there are many more people who can't afford Apple's prices.

It doesn't matter whether people care about the shortcomings of Android, such as the update problems. If they can't afford Apple's higher prices, they will by Android instead.

So you're saying it's the fault of consumers if they get phones that won't receive updates?

No, it's the fault of the manufacturers (and indirectly google, who take take any number of actions to coerce manufacturers to provide updates either more speedily or at all).

It's the user's problem, but for the majority of them it's not a problem. At all.

But for the handful who DO want the updates then yes, it's on them to pick wisely before spending hundreds of pounds on a phone given what we know about the Android ecosystem.

I agree, it's is not a problem that impacts users immediately, otherwise those phones wouldn't sell. The problem is security: an OS that does not receive patches is an insecure OS. That affects users in the long run, and it's more consequences that not being able to run the latest apps.

Sure. There's only one manufacturer who stays on top of updates the way Apple does with iOS - Google (or whomever they contract).

And this year, the only offering from Google are two phones (neither of which I need) or that tablet (which is larger than I wanted).

I did my research and there was exactly jack and shite all.

So then, I settled and went with cheap, thinking how bad can this be?

Samsung. Can they do anything right?

Don't know why you were downvoted. The fact that this topic still exists is a disgrace for Google (and Android users).

The problem is partially on the customer side (and I am part of it): typically new Android is available first (or at all) on newest aka most expensive devices. I don't necessarily need the most expensive device on market and I accept being a bit behind (which usually has an added value of not being a beta tester with a bunch of stupid regressions thrown at you). So I typically buy a one-Android-behind device, with great hardware for half price essentially.

I blame customers too, but for a different reason. I only reward manufacturers for devices that are well-represented on Cyanogenmod. Granted, someone like my mom has no hope of installing Cyanogenmod on her own, given that she knows nothing of Google or Android. But as long as people have friends or family to help them out with technical matters, they only have themselves to blame for devices whose software quickly go stale.

> But as long as people have friends or family to help them out with technical matters, they only have themselves to blame for devices whose software quickly go stale.

That part makes no sense to me. People who don't have the technical skill to deal with upgrading are typically the people least interested in upgrading.

No, they are not interested enough to care about version upgrades, but they do want to keep running the latest apps and games. This was a real problem until Kitkat came along. These days, app developers seem to be aiming for a minimum of Kitkat, so users who don't upgrade don't suffer as much.

They also should be interested in case of security updates. If Apples update numbers are true, they somehow manage to get the majority of their users to update to the latest version and this is something Android should aim for too.

Cyanogen went stale on me. If I tried to update, it would not boot. Nexus for the win.

We'll see what happens as the sale to Lenovo takes hold, but Motorola has continued to ship pretty decent lower end devices, with pretty rapid updates.

Not the very bottom of the market devices, but they are pretty good for the $200 price point.

Regardless of who's to blame and all that meta conversation, Motorola has not been doing great with the updates these days. The original Moto G was updated to 5.0 something like 9 months after the launch of 5.0. Moto E (2015) was updated from 5.0 to 5.1 and then abandoned. Turbo II got 6.0 a month or two ago.

There are almost certainly worse OEMs who never update anything, or update 2 years late, but I would not describe Moto as rapid on updates.

I have 6.0 on my 2015 Moto G. Since December.

It's nothing to do with Android - it has to do with the device you picked up.

I'm typing this on a Nexus 6p and I'm rocking beta of Android N. I think if you go with a Nexus (or a Xperia IMHO), you will always be using the latest and greatest version of Android.

Worth mentioning that the Sony SW3 was by far the last Android Wear device to finally get the Marshmallow upgrade, so all isn't great on that front either.

You seem to be blaming the customer for not understanding the politics of the Android software update fiasco.

That is very much Android's problem.

Which would be awesome, except that the last Nexus device I got has "the unrecoverable flicker" and they stopped selling the Nexus tablet. I have a phone, I wanted a 7" tablet for those times when I wanted to shut off the phone and play a game or read or watch a movie.

I liked the Nvidia Shield, but they pulled that from the market. I settled for Galaxy Tab 4, but so far, IMO, it's total shite. That's the second time Samsung has suckered me into buying something that sounds good, but didn't work out.

Not to mention which, Samsung has had something like 6 months to update from 4 to 5 and still have failed to do it.

The phones have always been the best phones you could buy for the price. The camera on the Nexus 6p and the 5x are still up there with the latest flagships.

Android has never had a good tablet story...but on the phones, you should definitely try a Nexus

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