Google Releases Android 9 Pie as Previous Oreo Release is Installed on Just 12% of Devices

[BigMac?]

It should also be noted that not all Android users want the latest version therefore they can run older versions of the OS if they choose to with less concern that apps will suddenly become incompatible as happens if you are not running the latest release of iOS.
The iPhone/iPad user is not even given the choice to rollback to a previous release these days because when Apple release a new version of iOS they immediately stop signing the previous version. Fortunately Apple do not do the same with macOS.

You know mysterious people, must be the same wanting Windows XP in 2018.
In Software developement stagnation means regression.

 

[gwaizai]

This post really makes me wanna pig out...Oreo's, Nougat, Marshmallow, Ice Cream Sandwich, Gingerbread

I wonder what I got in the frig...?

 

[pika2000]

The choice seems to be:

If you don't care about updates or security fixes, buy a low to mid range Android device. Nothing will change.
If you do care about updates and security fixes buy an iPhone or Pixel device.

Most consumer users will buy the first choice. As we know these devices are old and unpatched, I wonder how many of them have actually been compromised in the real world.

Thanks to OEMs like Xiaomi, you can get a cheap Android phone with specs matching mid to upper mid range phones. Plus due to their inexpensive price, you can buy a new Xiaomi every year and don’t have to worry about updates.

Google pixel 2 only gets 3 years of updates. For the premium price Google is charging (plus the data mining they do on your personal data). It’s a complete rip off.

 

[fat jez]

[doublepost=1533632095][/doublepost]

Good to know. How often have updates been rolled out since you bought it? Do you get monthly updates?

Yes, I do. Annoyingly, my provider blocks them, so I have to stick a prepay SIM from another operator (Vodafone) to get them, but they are available for anybody not on EE in the UK or by using my workaround.

 

[[AUT] Thomas]

Well... now they just need get the OS onto devices... that Pie charts are the exact reason why 99% of the Android devices are a security nightmare within warranty time...

“...that's similar to the interface of the iPhone X”

Imagine that.

Like Apple invented that...
It's nice to see how the competition picks up after like half a decade...
Hint: That shiny bar below the screen is a touch gesture area.
Be nice if they also implemented real multitasking (not halting apps) by now (both Apple and Google).

More importantly, the apps stay fully active and connected while in the background. If you’ve got Palm’s excellent messaging app open in the background, you’ll still show as logged on in AIM/GTalk and you can still receive messages while you’re reading emails, browsing the web or watching a movie.

The latest iPhone update enables background notifications, but nothing gives you the productivity of actually being able to run more than one app at a time. And thanks to the Pre doing a good job of managing memory, the phone doesn’t get horrendously slow if you’ve got a few cards open. There’s definitely a drop in smoothness and response time but not terrible. Plus, if things ever get too slow, just hit the home button and flick some cards off the screen to reclaim memory and reduce processing load. It’s not as hands-off as Apple’s approach, but it’s way more productive.

The multitasking ability of the Pre is honestly one of two features I really, really wish my iPhone had. Multitasking has been done by many smartphones before the Pre or iPhone, but no one has done it as smooth and as Apple-like as Palm.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I don't love Android or anything.
I very much like the way Apple do things.
I am just frustrated as Apple won't make the machine I and millions of other want, and would sell like crazy, and COULD dominate a current sector of the market, if Apple really tried, but they won't as it's not their direction.

I hate the mess Android is in, and I wish Google was more like Apple, actually take control. Stop others messing up Android, lay down the law, the rules and clean it up.
But again they won't.

It's more my frustration than any love or hate.

I do find Apple names cringy though.

Oh this new port is as fast as lightning! despite it being only USB2 speed when launched.

And also the I'm a GENIUS... really? That's so bad.

But perhaps this is very American, and hence why it's a bit cringy in the UK.

MagSafe, yeah, happy with that. Magnetic and Safe if pulled out.

I love many aspects of many machines of many makes.
I also despise many aspect of many machines of many makes.

So many companies need their MD's to get a good slap and told to stop making bad decisions and sort themselves out.

I mean, why are Samsung launching a Bixby Home speaker? The product no-one wants.
And as for the god ugly Pixel 3 that's coming.

Google stepping in goes against the whole concept of android. It’s an open system. It’s about being together not the same.

 

[trinityangel23]

Big thumbs up for this newest version.

 

[torana355]

So sad that you think about software updates this way. Software is always a work in progress.

Of course and the S9 will eventually get Android P, but until then the Samsung Experience is already ahead of stock Android feature wise and im more then happy with it. Also if Google would pull It's finger out and release a pixel phone with decent hardware I might be tempted but till then...

 

[mattopotamus]

I love people trying to justify the fragmentation. It was one of the main reasons to get a nexus back in the day.

 

[Heineken]

I love people trying to justify the fragmentation. It was one of the main reasons to get a nexus back in the day.

Yeah, suddenly Android is so modular and flexible that there is no need to update to a later OS version. Google just keeps releasing those new versions for lulz

 

[Macs4u]

Apple stops signing the previous versions once its newest is released. Somebody moves to the latest and doesn’t like it is stuffed. This isn’t being reported.

 

[dilbert99]

They copied everything, eg notifications where rectangles, now they are rounded rectangles, switches on their "control center" are also now round buttons like iOS. Copying for the sake of being equal.

Imagine if Apple did the same...

Apple did do the same (* Not the the same copying as the initial lawsuit), they have copied several features from Android.
[doublepost=1533636756][/doublepost]

Where/who comes up with these iOS adoption figures?
Every time I see one of these posts I find they are VERY pessimistic compared to what I'm seeing.
I have a popular App which I can check iOS version usage against. I get:
11.x = 93%
10.x = 5.3%
< 10 = 1.7%

Same thing as lots of statistics, you probably have to read the small print.
Other things will skew the figures for your app. Perhaps those with older phones are less likely to use newer apps etc.

I wish I could go back to iOS 10 or 9 on my iPhone 6. iOS 11 is sluggish on the 6, but to get my work calendar on my phone I was forced to update to the latest os.

 

[Heineken]

Apple stops signing the previous versions once its newest is released. Somebody moves to the latest and doesn’t like it is stuffed. This isn’t being reported.

That's insignificant. iOS doesn't change so drastically that you suddenly stop liking something in it.

 

[G5isAlive]

9 pages of android apology certainly explains a lot about the hate in these forums lol...very entertaining reads rationalizing poor update path...

 

[Lankyman]

How so? It only costs $29 to replace your iPhone batteries until the end of the year.

This is not a normal situation though, plus Apple has been featured on UK TV for finding the most spurious of reasons for refusing to carry out the work at the stated special offer price.
[doublepost=1533637445][/doublepost]

9 pages of android apology certainly explains a lot about the hate in these forums lol...very entertaining reads rationalizing poor update path...

Why does anyone need to apologise? I use both iOS and Android daily and both are great systems with neither being better than the other.

Take off those fruit flavoured blinkers.

 

[Heineken]

This is not a normal situation though, plus Apple has been featured on UK TV for finding the most spurious of reasons for refusing to carry out the work at the stated special offer price.
[doublepost=1533637445][/doublepost]
Why does anyone need to apologise? I use both iOS and Android daily and both are great systems with neither being better than the other.

Take off those fruit flavoured blinkers.

Actually one has to be better just by using pure logic. We are not talking about unicorns it is very much quantifiable.

 

[fat jez]

[doublepost=1533637445][/doublepost]
Why does anyone need to apologise? I use both iOS and Android daily and both are great systems with neither being better than the other.

Take off those fruit flavoured blinkers.

I agree, these are different horses for the same course. I also use both and each has its good and bad points.

 

[DNichter]

Smart phone saturation or peak demand is near if not already here.

For some. Apple seems to be managing through it.

 

[Substance90]

Way to go Google, stealing from iPhone X (ahem Palm WebOS).

 

[DNichter]

As long as they still have data to mine from it's customers, install base essentially means nothing to Google. All they need for their bottom line is user data.

 

[TimmeyCook]

Apple did do the same (* Not the the same copying as the initial lawsuit), they have copied several features from Android.

They didn't copy the LAF.

 

[martinX]

Google's latest Android operating system update, Android 9 Pie, was officially released to customers today following a beta testing period that started earlier this year.

This is the first Android operating system with a number prominently in it. Prediction: this will be the last Android operating system with a stupid food name, it will be Android 10.

 

[vmistery]

Ok, so seems to be a lot of confusion here about how the two systems differ:

Android:

• Yearly new releases
• Security patches for old versions (currently from 6 and up) for around 3 years post-release
• Manufacturers control all major and security only updates
• Google update some core services but critically things like kernel are not
• Upgrades (until recently) have been harder for manufacturers because the chip manufacturers stop producing drivers

There are actually some advantages with the Google way here in that if a new very demanding release comes out it won't automatically update and cripple entry-level phones. The downside is that most manufacturers are pretty lousy at releasing security updates (although this is improving).

iOS

• Yearly new releases, devices supported for around 5 years now
  
• Security patches only for the current version (ignoring a few extreme scenarios)
• Apple control software and hardware

The advantage of this system is clearly most people get security updates. That said there seems to be an issue with newer versions slowing down older devices (which should be fixed in iOS 12.

I guess my point is that having an older Android does not automatically make you insecure so being on an older version is not as bad as it could be on iOS.

 

[pika2000]

Does the Android OS continually ask you to update from earlier versions like iOS does?

On Android, you get a notification if there’s an update waiting for your device. Depending on the handset, the notification will remain persistently on the notification shade. Since I’ve seen some people not being bothered with dozens of icons on their notification bar, I guess one more wouldn’t make a difference LOL.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Didn't Oreo add something to let users update without the vendor middle man? If so, that could be why it's not being installed by vendors in recent devices.

Project Treble aids in that, but regardless, anyone outside of Google themselves still has to update their code within their version of Android. This is why even if you have an unlocked phone, you didn't get Pie yesterday if you're not using a Pixel (or an Essential).

Then there's the carriers...