Buy a Pixel if you want timely updates Oh wait

So the Android release works like this:

1. Google releases the new version.

2. Recent pixel phones get it around the same day. At this point it's extremely buggy. For example, your phone may not be able to make calls or acess Internet. It may crash twice a day

3. 3-6 months passes

4. By this time Google has fixed some of the more urgent bugs.

5. Only now Samsung and the rest start working on a proper release

6. 0-3 months passes

7. Samsung issues an OS update that is polished and mostly free of bugs.

Some companies try to be faster. But that requires a huge team of developers to fix and maintain a moving repo. But as much as we consumers complain about updates, no one is actually buying phones from these companies, so this will not continue forever.

TL;DR: Googles first release is just a beta by anyone elses standard

Meanwhile, there are a bunch of Android One phones still running Android 9.

And in my experience, when you do finally get the update, it sometimes ends up breaking a lot of existing features. Pixel users have reported multiple times about degraded battery life after an update, and my last experience with Android 10 release was that the software was full of small but annoying bugs.

I've been an Android user since 2.2 and have favored Google products (Nexus phones and now Pixels) exactly because of the vanilla experience and in my case quick updates. I just bought my first iPhone because of the frustration that the recent updates have caused me with Pixel 2. I feel like Android is taking huge steps back in refinement and that is really sad. Even the latest Pixel products look the same as two years ago and have taken steps back in battery life. I wouldn't have believed if someone told me a couple of years back that I would by an Apple product this year.

It blows my mind that a company the size of and with the resources of Google can't get this right, even after all this time. It reeks of apathy to me. And even though I've been a dedicated iPhone user since the 6 Plus, I'd genuinely hoped Android would get better eventually since it's much more open and I enjoy customization, but as it stands, I have no compelling reasons to leave Apple's walled garden.

It seems lately that the only time Google can be deigned to do anything radical to solve problems is when it has one regulatory agency or another breathing down it's neck. It's genuinely disheartening to see a company that, when it started, looked to be ready to change how business was done succumb to the same forces that grind up so many others.