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Comment by lapusta | Hacker News Reader

So many talks on Android fragmentation. Don't remember any when iPhone 2G was left behind iPhone OS 4.0 wagon.

Did you check out the whole OP?

I feel the dev's complaint was more nuanced than complaining about fragmentation.

The dev was saying there were tons of easy back-ports left on the table that could make the fragmentation much easier for developers to deal with. I walked away feeling that some released Android versions were neglected, more than fragmented.

[edited last sentence to distinguish neglected versions from not caring about the whole platform, which Google obviously does.]

At least: "released versions of Android are neglected". Google is not neglecting Android itself.

Fair enough distinction, I'll edit.

Each fix might be an easy port by itself, but if there's tons of them then maintaining developers to run through integrating all of them, making sure they work, individually and with each other, is not a trivial task.

Andy Rubin stated that the release schedule is going to slow down soon to either 2 or 1 releases per year. At the moment, the platform is immature and they are focused on adding in features. I suspect it will all become a lot more stabilised shortly.

Updating a device is not trivial. But the biggest obstacle is that the effort will be seen as wasted by the device manufacturer, who stopped making that device ages ago.

One of the things Apple has done brilliantly is to make updating painless.

The problem is that some of the handset makers (or carriers) don't seem to have much interest in providing updates. Which does make sense, in that there is no money in it for them. It's hard to see what Google can do about that.

Yes, that is exactly the crux of the problem. I imagine the following could help:

- Ensure raw Android devices are as pleasant to use as Sense and Rachel. This means stock updates will work on any phone, rather than having to wait for Handset manufacturers to port their UIs to new Android releases.

- Ensure that handset makers have updated their existing units before allowing them to provide 'Google experience' prorietary apps (Gmail etc) to them for new devices.

Google could provide (paid) update services for handset makers or carriers. The incentive for those to pay for this service would be that those devices would be much more attractive for customers. As a consumer I would be willing to pay more for a phone if I could be sure to get updates for 3 years ASAP.

EXACTLY. Why are these updates PAID!. I know many phone users would love to pay for them.

Actually, the problem is deeper than just that. It's not just a lack of incentive - it's counter-incentive. The phone companies are using the OS version to segment their market (high-rollers get a 2.1 device like an Incredible, cheapskates get a 1.5 device like an Eris or a Tattoo). The phone companies don't want you to be able to cheat their pricing by upgrading your Eris to 2.1. Given how obsequious and accommodating the handset makers are (they have to be - their sales channel belongs to the phone companies and they effectively have to do all of their marketing to phone company execs rather than us), it's unlikely that they'll do extra work to piss the phone companies off.

The CDMA Eris in the US has 2.1.

That's good - when did that happen?

Or are you talking about XDADevelopers?

Back in May if the Googles are to believed. I only noticed today when I was helping a non-technical coworker get her phone working with our employers email.

Yes, if this trend continues Apple will fragment iPhone OS devices once every 3 years. Awful when you consider that Android is fragmenting every month with the introduction of yet another device.

I agree with what you said here, and upvoted, but I'm not sure that it's a correct statement. What appears to be the case is that iPhone OS devices will be considered software-obsolete in the third year of availability, if we're extrapolating the trend from the limited data we have.

That is, I fully expect that my iPhone 3G will not run iPhone OS 5 and that the iPhone 3GS will not run iPhone OS 6 (or whatever number they're up to in two years). It's still a solid story for iPhone OS development compared to other handsets.

It appears to be one of the lessons that Apple took to heart from the PalmOS example (they were at 160x160 for years, then 320x320 and only a few folks took it beyond that).

Well operating-system obsolete. You can probably still get apps as long as the developer targets an older version number.

You can buy an iPhone 3G today from Apple that does not support all the features in OS 4 that comes out next month.

"iPhone OS 4 will work with iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and the second- and third-generation iPod touch this summer, and with iPad in the fall. Not all features are compatible with all devices."

Also, if the new iPhone does have a higher-rez screen, there is going to be even more fragmentation.

Not that this is awful or the end of the world, but Apple isn't magically exempt from these things.

But realistically it's much less of a problem in that ecosystem. And if you write for the 3G, it will work on the OS 4 devices. It's only an issue if your app needs the bleeding edge features or speed/mem.

Verizon is selling 1.5 and 1.6 devices right now - that's how they're segmenting their product line. AT&T and Apple haven't sold an iPhone 2G in years.

The Droid has an update to 2.1 available. The Eris has an update to 2.1 available. The Incredible shipped with 2.1.

While individual phones may ship with the old version all the Verizon Android phones I'm aware of have the ability to be updated to 2.1 in a carrier supported way.

I would expect the Droid and the Incredible to have at least 1 update in them, maybe more - they were/are both flagship Android phones and were sold to less-price-sensitive customers who will expect an up-to-date OS. It's the cheapskate-phones, as I mentioned, like the Eris, that I wouldn't expect to get updated.

I'm genuinely surprised, though, that the Eris has been updated.

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