Google Pixel 6 with 5 years of support is good, but other Android makers must follow

Date:
Sat, 17 Jul 2021 07:00:10 +0000

Description:
Android phone makers have for years got away with barely supporting their devices, and that needs to change.

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Perhaps the most exciting Google Pixel 6 rumor so far has nothing to do with its radical redesign or in-house chipset, but rather the number of updates it will get, with a leak suggesting the Pixel 6 (and Pixel 6 Pro) will get at least five years of software updates .

This is excellent news if true. It means not only that the Pixel 6 wont feel dated as quickly (as its software will remain up to date even as its hardware ages), but also that apps are likely to remain compatible with it for longer, and that itll actually be safe to use for longer because as well as
operating system updates, phones also get security updates to patch vulnerabilities.

But while Im very happy to hear this, its basically the least Id expect from
a flagship phone in 2021, so other Android phone makers really need to follow suit. Planned obsolescence

Right now, most Android phones only get two years of OS updates. So if your phone launched with Android 9, theres a good chance it would get Android 10 and 11, but thats it, and some arent even supported for that long. Security updates sometimes run for another year or so, but that still means that after around three years or less - your phone is not only outdated, but
potentially unsafe to use.

Whether this is done to push people into buying more phones (and therefore spending more money) or simply because keeping phones updated would be more time and expense for the manufacturer, it seems that ultimately this
situation comes down to money, but with how expensive many phones are thats not okay. The Xperia 1 III is a pricey phone, but there's no guarantee of lengthy support (Image credit: TechRadar)

Top-end Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and Sony Xperia 1
III cost upwards of $1,000/1,000/AU$1,800, so the least Id expect is that we shouldnt feel the need to replace them two or three years down the line. Not when other expensive tech like computers and TVs can last way longer.

And sure, many smartphones are actually quite cheap these days, but theyre still not exactly sold at pocket money prices, and some such phones will only get one major update if they get any at all. The Apple approach

If you ask me, were well past the point where companies should be getting a free pass on this, especially when theres already a big example out there of how to do software updates right.

Apple, for all the sometimes justified criticisms of its pricing, keeps offering updates to iPhones long after they launch. iOS 15 is landing later this year and its coming to all iPhones from the iPhone 6S onwards.

Thats a phone that launched in 2015 with iOS 9, meaning it will have got six years of OS updates, which is even more than Google is reportedly promising with the Pixel 6 range, and at least three times as much as most Android phones. iPhones are supported for ages, which goes some way to justifying their prices (Image credit: TechRadar)

And that phone isnt an outlier Apple consistently supports its handsets for
a long time. So while you might have to spend a lot to buy one, the cost is
no higher than the priciest Android phones, and you can rest assured that you wont feel compelled by software to buy a new handset a couple of years later.

That means in the long run it can actually be cheaper to be an iPhone owner than an Android fan. The case for longer support

I touched on why its important for Android phones to offer longer software support above, but there really are a lot of significant reasons.

Perhaps the biggest is simply that your phone or tablet remains safe to use, since its one thing for a device to feel dated, but if you actually cant safely use it then upgrading becomes near essential.

To remain safe it requires security updates, and companies are at least sometimes better with these than operating system updates, but youll still be lucky to get more than three years of these, and many phones get less.

Operating system updates by contrast are less essential. These are the
updates that move Android to new version numbers, often bringing new features and occasionally even a whole new look to the phone in the process. These are nice to have, especially if youve bought an expensive handset, but are less vital.

That said, some apps only support relatively recent versions of Android, so
as your phones software becomes dated you might find that it either cant run some apps, or that they dont perform as they should.

And then theres the environmental aspect of keeping phones updated for
longer. Doing so means youre buying new phones less often, so the hardware remains in use for longer. If more people did that it would have a big positive environmental impact, which everyone should be in favor of, not
least those companies that want to increasingly be seen as environmentally responsible. The Galaxy S21 doesn't come with a charger - or long-term
support (Image credit: TechRadar)

Samsung for example doesnt include chargers with the Galaxy S21 range in
order to reduce e-waste but its telling that this is a step that costs it nothing, and potentially even makes it money (since some people will need to buy a charger separately, and phone prices may not be lowered by as much as the charger would have cost).

Supporting phones for longer on the other hand costs the company money, so that once again is what it all comes back to. A step in the right direction

I dont want to be too hard on Samsung here. Whatever its motivations, taking steps to protect the environment is undoubtedly a good thing, and recently Samsung has been a bit better about software updates than many other
companies too.

It announced earlier in 2021 that it would start providing three years of OS updates and four years of security patches for its devices thats one more year of each than it previously offered, or than most other Android phone makers offer.

OnePlus soon followed suit with the same promise although only for its flagship devices, while Vivo has said it will offer three years of both OS
and security updates for select models, and Oppo has said it will offer three years of security updates (with no word on numbered OS updates) for the Oppo Find X3 Pro , Oppo Find X3 Lite , and Oppo Find X3 Neo . OnePlus is among the companies that have taken a small step in the right direction (Image credit: Future)

This all happened in 2021, so things are clearly, finally heading in the
right direction. But its long overdue, and these companies are still going nowhere near far enough their extended support is still well short of Apples (or Googles if the rumors are true) and is limited in most cases to select handsets.

And many Android phone makers havent committed to any improvements in
software support, with companies like Motorola, HMD Global (the maker of
Nokia phones), Sony and Xiaomi making no such promises.

Hopefully, the news about the Pixel 6 is true, and with Google making a push for longer software support, maybe more companies will do the same, because they really, really should. Either that or we should all just start buying iPhones a phrase I never thought Id say. Everything you need to know about Android 12



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/google-pixel-6-with-5-years-of-support-is-good- but-other-android-makers-must-follow/


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