Why is it so difficult to get the latest Android?

donalgodon · Dec 25, 2010

Please, forgive my ignorance here, but I'm new to Android after coming from WM, and I have some gaps in understanding that I'm hoping maybe you guys could help to fill in.

Given the so-called "open" nature of Android, I'm a bit puzzled why it seems so difficult to get the latest versions of Android running on our phones. If the SDK and resources are freely available and the basic drivers, etc. are a part of the ROMs themselves, why is it so difficult to just update the core of the OS to Gingerbread, for example?

I would have assumed it would have been simpler than it appears to be and Google touts it as being simple, so what am I missing? What's the stumbling block?

zephiK · Dec 25, 2010

Android 2.3 was released very recently, developers are hard at work at it.

Sometimes, it is not always up to Google. As of right now, the Vibrant has access to various 2.2 leaks... HOWEVER! the kernels for vibrant has not been open-sourced. So this limits development (OC, UV and so on). The I9000 kernel source is available, but they drain battery for vibrant users and its not worth using these kernels (in my opinion).

For users without rooting, you can blame the manufacturer and/or carrier for the delays.
Pure Google: Google -> Update
Manufacturer: Manufacturer ports Android on top of their skin (HTC Sense, TouchWiz, Motoblur, and so on) -> Carrier (Adds bloat; removes features e.g. tethering, etc) -> Update

donalgodon · Dec 25, 2010

The latest leak (to date) is JL5 which contains 2.2 but not 2.2.1? Is that correct?

I've seen some builds floating around with the designation XXJPX and I don't know if XX in this case is a blank place holder, or if it signifies a series number later (alphabetically) than JL5, even so, J comes before P last I checked, so is XXJPX a later leaked build than the JL5?

Master™ · Dec 25, 2010

donalgodon said:
The latest leak (to date) is JL5 which contains 2.2 but not 2.2.1? Is that correct?

I've seen some builds floating around with the designation XXJPX and I don't know if XX in this case is a blank place holder, or if it signifies a series number later (alphabetically) than JL5, even so, J comes before P last I checked, so is XXJPX a later leaked build than the JL5?

I believe JPX is the I9000 ROM

donalgodon · Dec 25, 2010

Ah, yes, I think so.

So, the JL5 is 2.2 but not 2.2.1?

Master™ · Dec 25, 2010

donalgodon said:
Ah, yes, I think so.

So, the JL5 is 2.2 but not 2.2.1?

JL5 is 2.2
We have no official 2.2, and no leak of 2.2.1

donalgodon · Dec 26, 2010

That's an example. I can't understand.

Is it that there are so many significant or major changes to the OS between 2.2 and 2.2.1 which would make it so difficult to shoe-horn into a cooked ROM for the vibrant based on JL5?

I had this picture of Android in my mind of being a developers paradise/playground from listening to Google's PR team. Not so, I guess.

synaesthetic · Dec 26, 2010

Two words:

Platform fragmentation.

If Google did what most of us wished they would do and unilaterally told carriers to make updates on time and to stop skinning Android, we might not be in this situation...

donalgodon · Dec 26, 2010

synaesthetic said:
Two words:

Platform fragmentation.

If Google did what most of us wished they would do and unilaterally told carriers to make updates on time and to stop skinning Android, we might not be in this situation...

I was under the impression that Google was making (de)fragmentation a priority. As it stands, it really does seem that Android is in danger of becoming another Windows Mobile 6.5.x

I was trying to escape that by selling my HD2.

down8 · Dec 26, 2010

synaesthetic said:
Two words:

Platform fragmentation.

If Google did what most of us wished they would do and unilaterally told carriers to make updates on time and to stop skinning Android, we might not be in this situation...

Skinning isn't really a fragmentation issue. I don't know of any OEM skins that keep ppl from running anything off the Market.

Fragmentation, as used in regard to Android, is the gap between 1.5, 1.6, 2.1, 2.2, and now 2.3, in performance and compatibility with things developers code. Meaning they can't make a single APK run on all these fragmented code-bases. Think Win95, WinNT, WinXP, WinVista, etc., but all being released within 2 years, instead of spread out over a decade and a half.

-bZj

donalgodon · Dec 26, 2010

down8 said:
Skinning isn't really a fragmentation issue. I don't know of any OEM skins that keep ppl from running anything off the Market.

Fragmentation, as used in regard to Android, is the gap between 1.5, 1.6, 2.1, 2.2, and now 2.3, in performance and compatibility with things developers code. Meaning they can't make a single APK run on all these fragmented code-bases. Think Win95, WinNT, WinXP, WinVista, etc., but all being released within 2 years, instead of spread out over a decade and a half.

-bZj

For the end user, the skins do seem to have a big impact, such as in the case of Samsung, who skins Android with TouchWiz and drags its feet on releasing updates as a result. Same thing happen with HTC and Sense. Sony is much worse.

They could, of course, just leave the UI alone and let the pure Android goodness flow (or hire enough people to get the job done on time if they want to skin, which I'd actually prefer, since some of those innovations really do improve the UI) but all this does seem to impact user experience, since those updates don't get to the phones in a timely manner... at least not like Google had told us they would.

MilkPudding · Dec 27, 2010

It's always ALWAYS your carrier.

Froyo was released many months ago and stock Android phones, like Nexus 1, got it almost immediately. Gingerbread comes with Nexus S and Nexus 1 is getting it very soon, if it wasn't on Nexus 1 already.

So if fast official OS updates are your main concerns, I suggest you getting a stock Android phone.

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Why is it so difficult to get the latest Android?

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