Android updates: Here is what to expect for different phone models

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Android updates are probably one of the strangest aspects of owning an Android phone. It has improved slowly over time and nowadays, if you own a Google Pixel or Samsung’s latest premium smartphone, you should expect most of the updates at a fairly reasonable rate.

It is a different story if you are using a mid or budget-range phone with an old chipset or an Exynos or MediaTek processor, to begin with. Thus, you would expect to receive one or two substantial updates if you are fortunate and possibly not significantly more than that except for security updates, if any.

Yes, it is a rather big issue that is causing further fragmentation and makes Android worse in that regard compared to Apple where for seven years your phone will see some updates, even if not all features.

Anyway, in the fresh Android Authority interview, Qualcomm’s vice president stated that it is already working to make the situation more favorable for OEMs and their devices.

OEM stands for original equipment manufacturer. In the business world, this means a company that makes a product to be sold by another company under its own name. For example, an OEM computer manufacturer might make computers for a brand like Dell or Lenovo, who then sell the products under their own brand names.

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“One of the things we have been doing worldwide with Google and OEMs for the last few years is the attempt to alter the inline code structure — or let’s say the machinery of those updates,” Qualcomm’s SVP & GM of handsets, Chris Patrick said. The concept behind this is to cut down on issues OEMs encounter in their struggle to distribute updates to elder gadgets.

“The specific task of delivering security updates, Android version updates, and spreading it across to the end customer, for any OEM customer, is very complex,” Patrick said. “Surprisingly, it is relatively expensive and very much intricate. ”

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Qualcomm stated that the code optimization has been going on for years, although the will reveal the new changes over the ongoing year. This optimization probably will not be the panacea of the problem of Android software fragmentation, however, it is encouraging to see Qualcomm at least try to solve it, even if as stated it is not the primary cause of it.

A timeline of when this announcement will happen has not been set, however, Android Authority might presume that in 2024 there will be the IFA Berlin in September and the Snapdragon Summit in October. The latter would correspond to Samsung releasing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.

Qualcomm is at its best when it follows up something on the software front with a new chipset. Presumably, there will be more information concerning the changes when the timeframe in question nears, specifically the fall season.

#Android #Tech #Updates