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jamezr

macrumors P6
Aug 7, 2011
15,835
18,384
US
That is a lot of work for device that's supposed to open and unlocked. Isn't part of the attraction of the N6 is having the most recent updates? Then having unlocked BL and being able to flash whatever you want?
 

Fanaticalism

macrumors 6502a
Apr 16, 2013
908
158
If its the sim, couldn't you simply remove sim and check for update?

I read you could but wasn't sure

Seems like the only thing that is working is a factory set. The only reason I can think of is that once the sim is provisioned to the device it has the ability to restrict OTA's.

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That is a lot of work for device that's supposed to open and unlocked. Isn't part of the attraction of the N6 is having the most recent updates? Then having unlocked BL and being able to flash whatever you want?

That is still the case but with these devices being sold through the carriers at subsidies/no interest financing the op model took some "detours", if you will.

As mentioned, this is only with ATT that people are experiencing severe interruptions.
 

jamezr

macrumors P6
Aug 7, 2011
15,835
18,384
US
Seems like the only thing that is working is a factory set. The only reason I can think of is that once the sim is provisioned to the device it has the ability to restrict OTA's.
Can you flash a rom that has the update you want? Then if there is another update you can flash to a stock image?
 

Fanaticalism

macrumors 6502a
Apr 16, 2013
908
158
Can you flash a rom that has the update you want? Then if there is another update you can flash to a stock image?

Yup.

Edit: The bootloader is still unlocked and you're free to sideload OTA's without the need for root or anything of the sort.
 

gotluck

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2011
5,712
1,204
East Central Florida
That is a lot of work for device that's supposed to open and unlocked. Isn't part of the attraction of the N6 is having the most recent updates? Then having unlocked BL and being able to flash whatever you want?

Aye, indeed, can thank ATT for that. I don't believe removing the sim is enough to get the OTA regularly. I wonder if putting an inactive tmobile sim in would do the trick.

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Seems like the only thing that is working is a factory set. The only reason I can think of is that once the sim is provisioned to the device it has the ability to restrict OTA's.

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That is still the case but with these devices being sold through the carriers at subsidies/no interest financing the op model took some "detours", if you will.

As mentioned, this is only with ATT that people are experiencing severe interruptions.

I thought I read ATT Bloatware apps also show up, you know if that is true? I know the verizon nexus 6 has verizon bloat
 

technosix

macrumors 6502a
Jan 13, 2015
929
13
West Coast USA
Doesn't matter where the devices are purchased from. The sim is what's dictating the updates which is why I sideload now.



Where did you hear this?
I'm perfectly aware of the differences in all Nexus devices, my point was simply to share my experience with Google. That it has improved immensely over the last 14 months.

On the second point I realize in haste I incorrectly said devices when I meant Nexus devices. In addition I overlooked capturing a link to the three different articles I read suggesting that Google branding was going away.
 

bmac4

macrumors 601
Feb 14, 2013
4,853
1,856
Atlanta Ga
Doesn't matter where the devices are purchased from. The sim is what's dictating the updates which is why I sideload now.



Where did you hear this?
That is only half true. I buy my nexus devices unlocked. It does not matter if I out an Att, Verizon, or T-Mobile Sim in it. The updates come from Google, and don't have anything to do with the carrier.

Now if I buy the phone from Att, Verizon, of T-Mobile then the carrier has a say in how they get updated.
 

jamezr

macrumors P6
Aug 7, 2011
15,835
18,384
US
That is only half true. I buy my nexus devices unlocked. It does not matter if I out an Att, Verizon, or T-Mobile Sim in it. The updates come from Google, and don't have anything to do with the carrier.

Now if I buy the phone from Att, Verizon, of T-Mobile then the carrier has a say in how they get updated.
I think you're right. But i think one point they were making was if you insert a AT&T sim it will download the carrier bloat from AT&T and Verizon and so on....
When i bought my AT&T Nexus 6 it got all the carrier bloat from AT&T. I unlocked and reset it and inserted a Verizon sim and it got the bloat from VZW.
 

bmac4

macrumors 601
Feb 14, 2013
4,853
1,856
Atlanta Ga
I think you're right. But i think one point they were making was if you insert a AT&T sim it will download the carrier bloat from AT&T and Verizon and so on....
When i bought my AT&T Nexus 6 it got all the carrier bloat from AT&T. I unlocked and reset it and inserted a Verizon sim and it got the bloat from VZW.
Oh yeah if you buy it from At&t you will differently get bloatware. I bought the unlocked Nexus 6 from amazon, and threw in my At&t Sim, and I did not get any At&t bloatware. Mine is bloat free.
 

gotluck

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2011
5,712
1,204
East Central Florida
Oh yeah if you buy it from At&t you will differently get bloatware. I bought the unlocked Nexus 6 from amazon, and threw in my At&t Sim, and I did not get any At&t bloatware. Mine is bloat free.

the OTA is still being withheld if you have an ATT SIM though, at least that is what androidpolice has said. What version is your nexus w/ att sim on?

I've read it doesnt matter where you buy your nexus from
 

bmac4

macrumors 601
Feb 14, 2013
4,853
1,856
Atlanta Ga
the OTA is still being withheld if you have an ATT SIM though, at least that is what androidpolice has said. What version is your nexus w/ att sim on?
Really how are they doing this? I have an unlocked nexus 6? I knew something weird was going on because my nexus 5 with an At&t Sim has already gotten the 5.1 update. Google has got to get these carriers under control
 

gotluck

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2011
5,712
1,204
East Central Florida
I think you're right. But i think one point they were making was if you insert a AT&T sim it will download the carrier bloat from AT&T and Verizon and so on....
When i bought my AT&T Nexus 6 it got all the carrier bloat from AT&T. I unlocked and reset it and inserted a Verizon sim and it got the bloat from VZW.

thats what I'm reading too, its all about the SIM, not where you buy the actual nexus from

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Really how are they doing this? I have an unlocked nexus 6? I knew something weird was going on because my nexus 5 with an At&t Sim has already gotten the 5.1 update. Google has got to get these carriers under control

yea this seems to be new with the nexus 6. it is a terrible precedent, there is an "oem partition" that seems to be dictated by the last inserted sim card. maybe att is letting the 5.1 OTA go through now I'm not sure, but if you search you will definitely find news of it being withheld in the past
 

bmac4

macrumors 601
Feb 14, 2013
4,853
1,856
Atlanta Ga
thats what I'm reading too, its all about the SIM, not where you buy the actual nexus from

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yea this seems to be new with the nexus 6. it is a terrible precedent
The weird thing is I did not receive any bloatware when I put my Sim in for the first time. This is so stupid
 

bmac4

macrumors 601
Feb 14, 2013
4,853
1,856
Atlanta Ga
Thank god that had not happened here.
Consider yourself lucky.
I'm not sure when / how it happens at all
I guess Google made a deal with the devil so they could get more exposure in the carrier stores, and get more attention. The crazy thing is At&t does not even offer the Nexus 6 in stores. You have to ordered it online. I have no idea if that is the same with the other carriers, but it does not seem the carriers are even pushing the phone.

I think its crazy Google let carriers have control of the Nexus 6, but the Nexus 5 with the same carrier Sim gets the update. I hate US carriers.
 

gotluck

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2011
5,712
1,204
East Central Florida
Indeed, seems like the Moto x 2014 pure edition is more of a nexus than a nexus

Biggest con of android for me is oem and carrier interference and it seems to be getting worse :(
 

jamezr

macrumors P6
Aug 7, 2011
15,835
18,384
US
Indeed, seems like the Moto x 2014 pure edition is more of a nexus than a nexus

Biggest con of android for me is oem and carrier interference and it seems to be getting worse :(

I really hoped Google would continue the GPE phones. That would be great to get a GPE S6 Edge!
 

Fanaticalism

macrumors 6502a
Apr 16, 2013
908
158
Aye, indeed, can thank ATT for that. I don't believe removing the sim is enough to get the OTA regularly. I wonder if putting an inactive tmobile sim in would do the trick.

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I thought I read ATT Bloatware apps also show up, you know if that is true? I know the verizon nexus 6 has verizon bloat

Only if you activate the device with the Sim installed and it's just one to two apps that are not on the system partition so you just uninstall like any other app.

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That is only half true. I buy my nexus devices unlocked. It does not matter if I out an Att, Verizon, or T-Mobile Sim in it. The updates come from Google, and don't have anything to do with the carrier.

Now if I buy the phone from Att, Verizon, of T-Mobile then the carrier has a say in how they get updated.

All updates come from google regardless of where you purchased it from. The Sim is what dictates the pace of roll outs for your device. This is well documented on all forums such as a central, XDA etc. This is why a clean wipe and reboot with Sim removed typically prompts for an update

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Oh yeah if you buy it from At&t you will differently get bloatware. I bought the unlocked Nexus 6 from amazon, and threw in my At&t Sim, and I did not get any At&t bloatware. Mine is bloat free.

If you inserted your Sim after you powered it on and passed the initial setup you will not get any apps. Go ahead and leave your Sim, wipe device and boot into setup and I guarantee you'll have two apps from Att, family maps and my Att.
 

bmac4

macrumors 601
Feb 14, 2013
4,853
1,856
Atlanta Ga
Only if you activate the device with the Sim installed and it's just one to two apps that are not on the system partition so you just uninstall like any other app.

----------



All updates come from google regardless of where you purchased it from. The Sim is what dictates the pace of roll outs for your device. This is well documented on all forums such as a central, XDA etc. This is why a clean wipe and reboot with Sim removed typically prompts for an update

----------



If you inserted your Sim after you powered it on and passed the initial setup you will not get any apps. Go ahead and leave your Sim, wipe device and boot into setup and I guarantee you'll have two apps from Att, family maps and my Att.
If you are talking about the the nexus 6 then yes carries it seems dictate the update, but every other nexus that was unlocked carriers having to do with the update process.

I went through the entire setup process when I first installed the Sim, and go no bloatware at all. Again I have the unlocked nexus 6 not the At&t one. There is no bloatware on my device.
 

WrenFGun

macrumors member
Oct 22, 2013
51
4
I sold my Nexus 6 for a few reasons (size, features, battery life .. boy was mine bad) but I've been pretty disappointed by the update structure. I'm obviously a bit spoiled by iOS, but it was always absurd to me that the factory image would be released for sideloading but I couldn't get the OTA update. Sideloading is easy enough, and the Custom Roms were pretty good (Liquidsmooth, BenzoRom in particular), but there were still enough hiccups that made it not a great fit for me.

As is, I've got an M8 coming from Swappa at half the price and I think I'll enjoy it just as much in a perhaps more manageable size. That said, just to add to the point of the thread, I used my Verizon sim and had no bloat, and then all of a sudden out of nowhere on a restore I had two Verizon apps added [easily deleteable, bought from Google store]. Still, meh.

The more Google sort of struggles with making the Nexus an advantageous products for things like update and lack of bloat, the more and more interesting Samsung seems, IMO. There are becoming fewer and fewer reasons not to enjoy the improved design and amazing screens. For me, particularly with the Nexus 9 being made by HTC, I wanted to give them a fair shot.
 

Cnasty

macrumors 68040
Jul 2, 2008
3,336
2,106
That is a lot of work for device that's supposed to open and unlocked. Isn't part of the attraction of the N6 is having the most recent updates? Then having unlocked BL and being able to flash whatever you want?

Exactly my thoughts and only reason to buy a Nexus 6 IMO.

This totally destroys my interest in a nexus 6 now as the software and updates were the biggest reason.

Ugh
 

gotluck

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2011
5,712
1,204
East Central Florida
Only if you activate the device with the Sim installed and it's just one to two apps that are not on the system partition so you just uninstall like any other app.

----------



All updates come from google regardless of where you purchased it from. The Sim is what dictates the pace of roll outs for your device. This is well documented on all forums such as a central, XDA etc. This is why a clean wipe and reboot with Sim removed typically prompts for an update

----------



If you inserted your Sim after you powered it on and passed the initial setup you will not get any apps. Go ahead and leave your Sim, wipe device and boot into setup and I guarantee you'll have two apps from Att, family maps and my Att.

Ah I see, interesting and good to know! So it seems bloat is easily avoidable , but the ota structure still requires sideload on att, maybe Verizon?
 

bandrews

macrumors 6502a
Jul 18, 2008
887
2,204
I sold my Nexus 6 for a few reasons (size, features, battery life .. boy was mine bad) but I've been pretty disappointed by the update structure. I'm obviously a bit spoiled by iOS, but it was always absurd to me that the factory image would be released for sideloading but I couldn't get the OTA update. Sideloading is easy enough, and the Custom Roms were pretty good (Liquidsmooth, BenzoRom in particular), but there were still enough hiccups that made it not a great fit for me.

As is, I've got an M8 coming from Swappa at half the price and I think I'll enjoy it just as much in a perhaps more manageable size. That said, just to add to the point of the thread, I used my Verizon sim and had no bloat, and then all of a sudden out of nowhere on a restore I had two Verizon apps added [easily deleteable, bought from Google store]. Still, meh.

The more Google sort of struggles with making the Nexus an advantageous products for things like update and lack of bloat, the more and more interesting Samsung seems, IMO. There are becoming fewer and fewer reasons not to enjoy the improved design and amazing screens. For me, particularly with the Nexus 9 being made by HTC, I wanted to give them a fair shot.

Must just be a US thing. Don't have any issues with things like that and my 5.1 update came through last week and I bought it from Amazon France using it in the UK with a UK sim.

I must say the N6 isn't flawless but haven't found any reason to pine for iOS yet. iPhone build quality however I'm really missing.
 

bmac4

macrumors 601
Feb 14, 2013
4,853
1,856
Atlanta Ga
So I was thinking about this SIM thing. So in theory if you take your At&t SIM out, and just use the phone on WiFi, you should get the update right? That is if you believe its the SIM that dictates the update. I for one don't understand why my unlocked Nexus 6 is bound to the same rules as a nexus 6 under contract with At&t. That is the point in buying unlocked right? You don't have to deal with a lot of the carrier bull crap.
 
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