The Android OS: Splintered but Unbroken Discussion

[Andy Patrizio]

When we talk about an operating system being fragmented, we mean that there are lots of versions of it still in use. This is a result of older devices not getting upgrades to the latest version.  Recently, quite a few people have expressed concern at how fragmented Google's Android OS is.

Read the full content of this Article: The Android OS: Splintered but Unbroken

Related Articles:

• Judge Rules Samsung Galaxy Nexus Infringes on Apple Patents, Bans Sale in U.S.
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Debuting Next Month
• Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Might Debut with Android OS ''Jelly Bean''

[Mitlov]

This is what I find mind-boggling:

Currently just 10% of Android devices have Android 4.0, but Google has already announced Android 4.1, which is set to be released later this month on a small handful of models.

[Varjak]

I think the fragmentation issue is overdone. Just recently, I read one comment from an Apple fanboy who wrote that he was able to upgrade his gen. 2 phone to the 'newest' iOS; but then enumerated all the features that were disabled. So you can call it whatever you like; but if you keep an older iPhone, most likely it will have a 'fragmented' version as well. And as mentioned, there are some good reasons for the various version (tablets, price points, etc.). The only real issue are the phone carriers, who have exerted their influence over Android, which Apple was able to avoid. One might think Google could have stood their ground a bit better and forced carriers to offer more plain-vanilla Android phones, which would get upgrades much faster.

[Hook]

Yes, the fragmentation is not in the OS. If you are using a non-carrier-modified Nexus model, you have the new version as soon as Google releases it as long as your hardware can take it. It is the manufacturer and carrier implementations that are fragmented. Apple was very smart about this. What motivation do the carriers and Manufacturers have to update already sold hardware?

[LandSurveyor]

Agreed. but the flip side of that is, that if you go with a Nexus, you are jumping from carrier and manufacture installed crapware to a device built to Google's purpose. As has been noted before, Google devices do not have external card slots because they want you to depend on their cloud.

I mean, is either an ideal solution?

[Mitlov]

Yes, the fragmentation is not in the OS. If you are using a non-carrier-modified Nexus model, you have the new version as soon as Google releases it as long as your hardware can take it. It is the manufacturer and carrier implementations that are fragmented. Apple was very smart about this. What motivation do the carriers and Manufacturers have to update already sold hardware?

But I don't think it can be blamed solely on the carrier or manufacturers either. Every single iPhone gets the same updates (barring features the older hardware can't) at the same time, regardless of which carrier it's on. Every single Windows Phone got 7.5 and will get 7.5, regardless of the hardware manufacturer and regardless of the carrier. It's only Android where you end up in a situation where Google thinks ICS is already a previous-generation OS yet only 10% of Android users qualify for it without rooting their device.

It's not solely Google's fault, but it's not solely the fault of OEMs or carriers either (or else the situation would be just as bad with WP updates and iOS updates). The fragmentation that is barring most Android phone owners from ICS (not to mention Jelly Bean) only happens when you add all three together.

[jigwashere]

What motivation do the carriers and Manufacturers have to update already sold hardware?

Right. If abandoning your user base was good enough for Palm....

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2, Epic 4G Touch using Tapatalk

[Hook]

But I don't think it can be blamed solely on the carrier or manufacturers either. Every single iPhone gets the same updates (barring features the older hardware can't) at the same time, regardless of which carrier it's on. Every single Windows Phone got 7.5 and will get 7.5, regardless of the hardware manufacturer and regardless of the carrier. It's only Android where you end up in a situation where Google thinks ICS is already a previous-generation OS yet only 10% of Android users qualify for it without rooting their device.

It's not solely Google's fault, but it's not solely the fault of OEMs or carriers either (or else the situation would be just as bad with WP updates and iOS updates). The fragmentation that is barring most Android phone owners from ICS (not to mention Jelly Bean) only happens when you add all three together.

I wasn't exonerating Google, merely trying to indicate where they made their mistake. It doesn't happen with Apple because Apple made sure it didn't happen. And they got AT&T and later, the other carriers to agree. Google never used their clout. It's also possible Android would have grown as fast if they did, but I think it was a mistake not to insist that they retained more control. At the time, they sold it in part as, hey, look, a free operating system. The problem was, Apple had the huge iPod audience that they could dangle out there to get what they wanted. In 2009, what did Google have?

[Varjak]

The real problem is that these OSs are really trojan horses. They're not about the OS and what they can do for the user; but really about the 'gateway drug' that gets you to use their other services and to become THEIR product. In the 'old days,' Palm gave you an OS that served a function and that was it. You used it in whatever way you wanted (and could get it to work). The OS was the thing unto itself. These days, you have to forfeit a good deal of your own independence and privacy in order to use most smartphones today. Maybe if Firefox can liberate the OS (and ultimately the user) from being subservient to the needs of the carrier, phone manufacturer, and OS provider. I want to pay the phone maker for the hardware and the carrier for the ability to use their network and presumably the OS provider will earn money in stages before the phone makes its way to me. I don't want the cost 'subsidized' by giving up things I don't even know I'm giving up.

[LandSurveyor]

I agree that the Firefox development looks interesting.