Why does 90% of Android phones never get any updates?

[Monchi]

seriously why?

 

Most of the phones here in the philippines are still in Jelly Bean, and the brand new ones are still on kitkat.

 

Android One is here but the masses really don't care about it

[Alibaladin]

Why should they get you the latest license on android from Google when they got your money?

[Monchi]

Why should they get you the latest license on android from Google when they got your money?

 

I thought the license is free.

[TheSLSAMG]

The manufacturers stop putting the money into making new versions for older devices and they stop caring, they want you to buy a new one.

[Bogica]

Because they don't care. You most likely got a decent spec phone for low money and you have no right to ask for updates also.

That's why you buy serious brands only.

[ForsakenLive]

Because most of the times it depends on both the manufacturer and the carrier. They want you to get a new one.

 

This is why people love Nexus devices, they get updated directly by google.

[Monchi]

Because they don't care. You most likely got a decent spec phone for low money and you have no right to ask for updates also.

That's why you buy serious brands only.

 

Samsung hardly update their older phones like the S3 .___.

[Techdude154]

It's sad that ROM developers not only update phones that OEMs abandon after 1 update cycle but they also normally do a better job then the OEMs at it

[Bogica]

Samsung hardly update their older phones like the S3 .___.

Samsung are money whores, they don't care about their users, the S3 still has awesome specs and 4.4 would have ran so much better on it but it's greedy Samsung, as always. Other brands aren't that great either but at least they update.

The best update service I've had is Windows Phone, but it HAD to be updated because of how bad things were when WP8 came out. Still, I do hope they continue the way they have.

Those that plan on screaming iOS, well iOS slows down with each update unlike WP and Android who improve.

[Alibaladin]

I thought the license is free.

There's patent fees.

[typographie]

Samsung hardly update their older phones like the S3 .___.

 

It's for the best. Who wants TouchWiz anyway? Cyanogen Mod is awesome on my S3.

 

I thought the license is free.

Additionally, their labor to port it to your phone is not free, either. The Android source code is technically free, but it has to be modified to run properly on your hardware.

[Aniallation]

seriously why?

 

Most of the phones here in the philippines are still in Jelly Bean, and the brand new ones are still on kitkat.

 

Android One is here but the masses really don't care about it

Long story short, most small companies don't got time fo dat. 

 

There's 3 main reasons

1. Small development team for most phones in places like the Philippines (if any at all), don't expect cheap Chinese phones to get any Android updates

2. Too many phone variants

3. They don't care

 

Companies like Samsung care about their flagships because many people use them. The S3 has so many users that if there wasn't any updates for it then people would be upset and would be less likely to buy another Samsung flagship in the future.

 

As for their lesser devices there are seldom updates for them because there are simply way too many devices. There's likely a lot of Galaxy devices over in the Philippines that I've never heard of, and plenty of Galaxy devices here in Canada that you've never heard of (Ace II X, Core LTE, etc) and they just wouldn't be able to get updates to every single one of those devices. 

 

On the other hand, companies like Google care, because it's easy for them to. There aren't many Nexus devices, and making OTA updates for 10 different devices is much easier then making OTA updates for 200 different devices.

 

 

Samsung hardly update their older phones like the S3 .___.

Yes they do. They updated it to KitKat, past the 18-month period that they're supposed to update their flagships for. KitKat update for the S3 is a privilege, not a right.

[Aniallation]

Samsung are money whores, they don't care about their users, the S3 still has awesome specs and 4.4 would have ran so much better on it but it's greedy Samsung, as always. Other brands aren't that great either but at least they update.

Anybody who hates on the performance of TouchWiz hasn't tried any of the new devices with the "S5 Style" TouchWiz and shouldn't have the right to complain. 

 

Seriously, the ~$200 Galaxy Avant is noticeably smoother in light use then the Galaxy Note 3.

[Castdeath97]

Long story short, most small companies don't got time fo dat. 

 

There's 3 main reasons

1. Small development team for most phones in places like the Philippines (if any at all), don't expect cheap Chinese phones to get any Android updates

2. Too many phone variants

3. They don't care

 

Companies like Samsung care about their flagships because many people use them. The S3 has so many users that if there wasn't any updates for it then people would be upset and would be less likely to buy another Samsung flagship in the future.

 

As for their lesser devices there are seldom updates for them because there are simply way too many devices. There's likely a lot of Galaxy devices over in the Philippines that I've never heard of, and plenty of Galaxy devices here in Canada that you've never heard of (Ace II X, Core LTE, etc) and they just wouldn't be able to get updates to every single one of those devices. 

 

On the other hand, companies like Google care, because it's easy for them to. There aren't many Nexus devices, and making OTA updates for 10 different devices is much easier then making OTA updates for 200 different devices.

 

 

Yes they do. They updated it to KitKat, past the 18-month period that they're supposed to update their flagships for. KitKat update for the S3 is a privilege, not a right.

The only versions that were update were the US and LTE variants, the more popular international one did not. Apparently because samsuck thinks you need 2GB ram for kit kat while google says 512MB....

[Mew]

The only versions that were update were the US and LTE variants, the more popular international one did not. Apparently because samsuck thinks you need 2GB ram for kit kat while google says 512MB....

 

That's because Samsung knows that TouchWiz isn't much of a wizard at memory management and needs unnecessary amounts of ram.

[Akolyte]

In my opinion you should only get an HTC (they have a 90 day update guarantee), A Nexus, A Motorola phone or an iPhone. 

 

That's just my opinion.  I'm just pretty black and white when it comes to this kind of stuff.  Of course Samsung phones are alright (except for DAMN TOUCHWIZ) if you don't care for updates. 

[Bogica]

Anybody who hates on the performance of TouchWiz hasn't tried any of the new devices with the "S5 Style" TouchWiz and shouldn't have the right to complain. 

 

Seriously, the ~$200 Galaxy Avant is noticeably smoother in light use then the Galaxy Note 3.

Used the S4 for a solid period of time and the S5 for a shorter period of time. My experience with the S4 is based for a few months after it's release and it SUCKS, it lagged more than the S3, I died on the inside when I was using it. However, touchwiz worked fine on my S3 and it had some features that I grew fond of and got used to them and I see myself missing them while running stock android.

But anyway, my experience with Samusng comes down to: Don't buy any Samsung phone that isn't/wasn't a flagship, IT WILL SUCK SO BAD!

[Laurysss]

It's sad that ROM developers not only update phones that OEMs abandon after 1 update cycle but they also normally do a better job then the OEMs at it

Tell me one company that has better stock os then any custom rom?... What do I hear? nothing.

@Monchi 

a) Phones are too old to run the os

b )They want more money - they are forcing to buy the newest smartphone for the newest features

c) There is too much phones, so they dont update them all.

[Speedbird]

Why should they get you the latest license on android from Google when they got your money?

Dude.. Android is free.

 

But I think that only 2 types of phones that are in production are stuck on Jelly Bean:

1. Phones from small companies who haven't built an updater yet, or just can't afford to develop a new version.
2. Samsung phones - they are the slowest with updating. Especially with their low-end phones. They'd rather release a new phone than update an old one.

[Alibaladin]

 

Dude.. Android is free.

 

But I think that only 2 types of phones that are in production are stuck on Jelly Bean:

1. Phones from small companies who haven't built an updater yet, or just can't afford to develop a new version.
2. Samsung phones - they are the slowest with updating. Especially with their low-end phones. They'd rather release a new phone than update an old one.

 

 

Ballmer’s reply: “Android has a patent fee. It’s not like Android’s free. You do have to licence patents. HTC’s signed a licence with us and you’re going to see licence fees clearly for Android as well as for Windows.”

Really? Dude?

[Speedbird]

Really? Dude?

It's not like they have to sign a new licencing deal with each new version of Android. The fact that an OEM is selling phones with Jelly Bean doesn't mean that they stopped paying a licence fee. If they stopped doing that, they wouldn't sell phones at all.

[Alibaladin]

 

Dude.. Android is free.

 

But I think that only 2 types of phones that are in production are stuck on Jelly Bean:

1. Phones from small companies who haven't built an updater yet, or just can't afford to develop a new version.
2. Samsung phones - they are the slowest with updating. Especially with their low-end phones. They'd rather release a new phone than update an old one.

 

 

 

It's not like they have to sign a new licencing deal with each new version of Android. The fact that an OEM is selling phones with Jelly Bean doesn't mean that they stopped paying a licence fee. If they stopped doing that, they wouldn't sell phones at all.

What in the world you're saying now?

[Speedbird]

What in the world you're saying now?

Really?

 

By saying that "Android is free" I meant that it's open-source and anybody could download and modify it. By the licence fee I meant the one that OEMs pay for the Android trademark and the right to bundle Google Apps.

[Alibaladin]

Really?

 

By saying that "Android is free" I meant that it's open-source and anybody could download and modify it. By the licence fee I meant the one that OEMs pay for the Android trademark and the right to bundle Google Apps.

Pathetic.