Android O Beta Program
google.com
google.com
Given the short support curve for most Android devices from Google and especially from third parties, that device is quite likely to be an iPhone. What was unthinkable to me just a few short years ago is now reality... I type this on a MBP and I might be convert my phone platform now as well. A true testament to the constant change in the marketplace, and the need to evaluate based on features and performance rather than fanboism.
- contacts visible in back cover (the 4 yellow contacts for wireless charging are the easiest to see): https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-RWgjtEwQYQ/maxresdefault.jpg
- spring-loaded contacts in the phone (3 around the camera, 2 on the opposite top corner, 4 match up with the wireless charging points): http://images.anandtech.com/doci/7517/Nexus5-1552.jpg
In mine, the back cover flexes, and contact isn't always maintained for all the connections. I've cleaned them with contact cleaner, and alcohol, tried bending the leaves to provide more pressure, etc. I also replaced the back at one point. Like the original, it would be fine for a while, then need readjustment. The body of the phone has a few thin, brittle parts, which started cracking (the back really wasn't designed to be removed often). I feel like the wear+tear on the phone body and constant mechanical maintenance just wasn't worth it.
Prior to opening the sucker because of the wireless charging not working, there shouldn't've been any finger oils on the contacts (or, I'd hope).
They used to be subsidized by Google and offered at a lower price point, but at flagship levels they have greater competition. I guess it's time for me to consider yet another new territory with this round... device insurance.
You get only 1.5 years it's been on the market for 1.5 years.
Also, Windows at least tells you that support for your version is coming to an end. Google/Android has not notified me in any way that my device is not being supported anymore, that new updates will not be coming, what that might mean for me and what they suggest I should do.
Two colleagues also still use this device, and one is contemplating replacing it because the latest Facebook app won't run on his Android 4.3, and he is not receiving a carrier update. My Note 3 is updated to Android 5.0.
For comparison, my iPhone 5s (that I recently replaced) from 2013, received iOS 10 and was still butter-smooth [1]. It will most likely also get iOS 11 this year.
tl;dr: you should expect/demand more from a device that almost costs a grand.
[1] I replaced it because I wanted more storage and live photos.
I would like to keep using it, but the battery plus the lack of software updates is pushing me back into the market...
(When I become Prime Minister, providing only 3 years of security support for a product that ought to last at least 5 will become illegal...)
While Android on the other hand, I have countless dead phones because either Android N is not coming on it, especially Android O. And the Pixel phones from last 2 years is gonna be dead within this year. I feel like Google has no hope on how to solve this anymore. My minimum SDK is still at 19. My Android code has a lot of Build code check for backwards compatibility. Compared to my iOS code, there is completely none. Google should have address this issue since Marshmallow. But it is too late now.
And there is no Nexus phones here, so the devs here only has Samsung, LG and low cost phones which has no Google support.
The point, I guess, is that anecdotes vary. Heck, my son has been toying around with the G1 and G2, and Nexus One, I had sitting in drawers.
Honestly, I've had about the same experience with Google (specifically Project Fi) with a different set of issues. I can't really say that one company is better than the other, and I doubt it would be easy to find reliable data to make a case for one or the other.
I wonder if Google will actually expand the Android One program. If it's globally available and also are eligible for beta testing it'd be really nice.
(I have a work iPhone, and the lack of customization is driving me nuts -- no home screen replacement, resource constraints means SwiftKey only supports two concurrent languages and no CJK, no way to associate installed apps with certain URL patterns, Apple Maps is privileged over other map apps...)
I'm tempted by the OnePlus Five, but I may wait a few months to see if there are any issues before I purchase one. The customer support at OnePlus is notoriously poor, so I'm keen to wait for the second batch to arrive off the factory floor.
OnePlus provides impressive specs per dollar, and their phones are really nice 95% of the time. The last 5% is where they lost me.
Probably the classic infant mortality curve, just as my OnePlus 1 is going strong, a lot of my friends' still have their older phones, because they still work flawlessly.
I only found software rates https://www.blancco.com/resources/rs-state-of-mobile-device-... though I know nothing of the veracity of this ... study.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/218777/failure-rates-for... ..
Ah, finally something a bit more relevant: https://www.squaretrade.com/cell-phone-comparison-study-nov-... 2% for iPhone 4.
The squaretrade thing is more interesting, the raw data for the statista link is https://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/iPhone_failure_rates_6_2.... I'd be interested in an update on that, phone materials have changed a lot in the last six or seven years. I would hope that things have improved overall but it would be nice to get confirmation on that.
OnePlus has their own issues but I'm not going to drop $400 on a phone that doesn't last more than a year.
https://arstechnica.com/security/2016/11/chinese-company-ins...
[1] https://www.t-mobile.com/offer/google-pixel-phone-offer.html
I personally love my pixel but there are more than a few nice Android phones to pick from.
The shelf life of phones is embarrassingly low. For no apparent reason.
So, Google did an in-house bringup for 7.0 - and "normal" OEMs aren't able to do that. Qualcomm usually provides a lot of pre-compiled binaries to the OEM, which either require nasty hacks to work on newer versions of Android (which won't pass CTS - so can't be shipped), or just straight up don't work. The blame here rests largely with chip manufacturers and their short support cycles.
Of course, LineageOS[1] remains an option if you're looking for extended support for the Nexus 6. (disclaimer, I'm a device maintainer for Lineage)
I don't understand the problems with backward compatibility. They already provide it via the Android SDK (the support library).
Java/Dex/Dalvik/ART or whatever it's called now that runs the shit works on Linux 3.0 probably. (Android 2.3 was released with Linux 2.6.35 [+ patches, I assume && hope], and that's currently the lowest supported API Level (that is api level 9)).
Google is generally pretty good about keeping source compatibility, but ABIs change, and sometimes completely unrelated changes break everything for no obvious reason. Some things I've encountered include:
* sensor blobs crashing when using a clang-built libc, but working with a gcc-built one.
* blobs crashing when using jemalloc, but not dlmalloc (dlmalloc was removed with 7.0).
* Vendors introducing hacks in the OS - workarounds to deal with broken HW media encoders (which misinterpret pixel formats), misbehaving GL blobs, or devices which expect one pixel format for their display when the system provides another (e.g. RGB vs BGR).
* closed-source OpenGL drivers which use-after-free - the bug's probably existed since forever, but it only manifests after 7.0.
[1]: https://github.com/LineageOS/android_kernel_samsung_smdk4412...
That's why XDA is full of ROMs that "just need to get GPS working and camera sometimes crashes" :(
How come Google doesn't try to source better hardware for their phones? Also, is this the cause of why Apple in-housed a lot of things?
Also, how come there isn't an isolation layer for these blobs, something like docker for the phone? (So they get their runtime dependencies, and communicate with them via a socket-shim?)
Google should put some resources into kernel development for a year or so.Get the changes they want into Linux 5.0 and make it the android long-term-release kernel. Then no further changes to the kernel unless its 0.0.1 security patches.
Probably the only instance that I'm aware of where an OEM has actually mainlined support for their own mobile devices is Samsung with some of their Tizen reference devices - "trats"[2], "trats2"[3] (which is pretty much identical to the Galaxy S3), "tm2" and "tm2e"[4]. Of course, these will probably never gain support for certain things like 3D acceleration and the modem in mainline, but it's certainly a good start. (Note: a few Nexus devices seem to have mainline DTS[5], but I'm not sure how complete they are).
[1]: https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/common/ [2]: https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/arch/arm/boot/... [3]: https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/arch/arm/boot/... [4]: https://github.com/torvalds/linux/tree/master/arch/arm64/boo... [5]: https://github.com/torvalds/linux/tree/master/arch/arm64/boo...
It doesn't have to be a mainstream kernel. The only important part is that it is a fixed kernel version so drivers and such does not need to be re-written with each new android release.
This is how it is done already. Google picks a kernel release (historically 3.0, 3.4, 3.10, 3.18, 4.4 etc.) and ports Android patches to that kernel while developing new features as well. Then SoC vendors do their bringups using that kernel tree.
A device is released with a specific kernel version and it doesn't get upgraded in devices lifetime even if the same device gets several Android upgrades. Native Nougat devices released in 2017 have kernel 4.4 which was released in early 2016, which is not even considered a new kernel by the upstream standards.
What do you expect the benefit everyone gains from sticking to the same kernel for 5 years? What is the point of developing a SoC in 2017 and bringing it up using Linux 2.6.32 instead of Linux 4.4? What is the benefit for Quallcomm, for Google or for users?
What's the difference in how they operate with suppliers?
Android users should push for longer support. I had an original Nexus 1 and I was quite disappointed when it could no longer be upgraded. It cost me $600.
https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705#nexus_device...
The situation is pretty complex but the support libs & play services are available on virtually all devices (API 9+ IIRC, but anything older would not be able to run most modern apps).
As an iPhone 5S user, I don't feel like I'm disadvantaged at all from having a phone that is three generations behind.
But I guess that's up to the developer anyhow.
Thanks for your reply. (A few of my friends also use 5s and they also feel it's still pretty okay.)
https://9to5google.com/2017/03/15/nexus-6-android-7-1-1-down...
(Not letting google off the hook here. What they're doing isn't great and they should do better. Just saying your statement isn't entirely correct)
I took this shot of my Nexus One next to the new S8 Plus, highlighting 7 years of advance in technology:
No it wasn't, and I didn't even get this phone new but a year into its life. This phone came out in 2014. It got its fair share of updates.
Otherwise seems like a nice incremental step. Android pay not currently supported which is another downer to running this beta.
I bought an iPhone 7 just to give it a whirl, but I eventually gave it to the wife. There's something about that back button that I can't let go.
(there are some claims that there's a difference for that particular option)