
Samsung committing to three generations of Android OS upgrades - ingve
https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-raises-the-bar-for-mobile-experience-innovation-committing-to-three-generations-of-android-os-upgrades
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nickcw
This isn't wildly impressive. Looking at the wikipedia page
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history)
you can see a new Android is released every year around August.

So what Samsung seem to be saying is that we will support your Android device
for 3-4 years. That is a definite improvement but not a lot of support for a
$1000+ device.

> For example, the Galaxy S20 lineup, announced in February 2020 powered by
> Android 10, will get support for three OS upgrades starting with Android 11
> to give users a refreshing phone experience. The Galaxy S20 line-up will
> also be the first Galaxy devices to receive the Android 11 upgrade later
> this year5, with other devices to follow shortly thereafter.

I had an original Samsung Galaxy Note which I loved as being one of the first
big phones. The OS support was abysmal though which was one of the reasons I
switched to the Nexus/Pixel line. Now Google hard cuts the support off at 3
years for the Pixels which I resent immensely on a very expensive device.

~~~
botto
Depends on which upgrades you are concerned about. I agree that having new os
versions supported for longer than 3-4 years would be good, but at least it
looks like they will be supporting security updates for longer now, 6 years of
security upgrades if I'm not mistaken.

~~~
dogma1138
How will they support security updates for 6 years when Google isn’t
supporting that? Google usually deprecates support after 2-3 years. Also some
security fixes require new kernels so there’s that.

For Samsung to do that they’ll essentially will have to fork Android.

~~~
botto
So they are supporting three generations of android version, so if a phone
comes out on 8, that means it will receive major upgrades to 10, so that's 3
years there and then Google seem to support 3 more years of security of 10
after it comes out.

I'm aware android 8 is old now, just using it as an example.

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kbd
This is one of the biggest reasons I’m a loyal iPhone user. I experienced this
first-hand when my iPhone 5 still received updates for a year after Google’s
Nexus 7 tablet despite the Nexus 7 having come out two years later. And the
Nexus tablet stopped being able to charge...

Phones that cost $1000+ are fine when you can keep them for 5+ years.

~~~
Zenst
I have to agree, Apple when it comes to updates and how long they support
devices do put Android offering to shame.

~~~
levosmetalo
Well, for that money you can buy multiple Android phones and never ever run a
two year old phone anymore.

~~~
hodder
Flagship? No. If you want an iphone level phone it basically costs you iphone
level dollars whether you want Android or an iphone.

Of course you can buy a cheap phone, but for a 1K phone I expect support for
more than 3 years or I wont buy it. That is one thing keeping me from
switching back to Android. I likely never will with the preloaded crapware and
lack of support.

~~~
scarface74
If you want iPhone level performance - even that of a $399 SE, you can’t find
it an Android at any cost....

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AdmiralAsshat
I do think we should make note of the fine print:

>"By supporting _up to_ three generations of Android OS upgrade, we are
extending the lifecycle of our Galaxy products and making a promise that we
will provide a simple and secure mobile experience that takes advantage of the
latest innovations as soon as they are available.”

"Up to" being the key here. Not guaranteed.

~~~
ogre_codes
I saw that, what's the point of even having a press release for such a vague
promise.

~~~
MayeulC
Well, by using "up to", they at least guarantee that they won't support if for
more than three generations...

Contrast for instance with Pine64 that guarantees they will manufacture their
devices for at least five years. I sometimes feel like smartphones should be
regulated: standardize everything when it comes to interfaces and footprints:
battery, cameras, etc. That was done in the european union for chargers, and
I'm willing to bet that very few people will argue it was a bad thing.

Or maybe artificially limit the number of devices a smartphone manufacturer
can sell during a given time?

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rubber_duck
A step in the right direction but still a ridiculous situation for tablets now
that they are pushing them into laptop replacement category, who would buy a
laptop knowing that your >1000$ device is going to be impossible to update in
3-4 years...

~~~
speedgoose
To be fair, very few people buy Android tablets nowadays.

~~~
reallydontask
what do you mean by very few?

In the UK, Apple market share for tablets seems to be ~65%

~~~
easton
Of the remainder, how many are the Amazon tablets? They are Android but are
specifically designed for content consumption.

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AdmiralAsshat
Looks like my just-purchased S10e makes the cut, although the Galaxy Tab S5e
purchased three months ago does not. Alas.

The more reassuring commitment, IMO, would be to four years of security
updates. I don't necessarily need the latest-greatest version of Android to
feel safe, but I _do_ need to know that the latest batch of high-profile CVE's
will be plugged.

~~~
bergie
I think they were already doing 4 years of security updates (3 years monthly,
1 year quarterly). My 2017 Note 8 just dropped to the quarterly updates train

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mschuster91
Read this and thought, might be worth a try to upgrade my aged SM-T719 as it's
gotten dog slow... but WTF? All Samsung does _starts_ at 10 inch (for
comparison: the T719 is 8 inch), that's way too big for me - and it's a 2017
model which means everything is aged!

Is there _anything_ of decent quality (including availability of spare parts
like batteries and screens, as well as somewhat reliable updates and a
somewhat new-ish CPU) on the market at the moment? Hell I'd even drop my
previous hard requirement of a decent camera and NFC... but it looks like the
market between the 6-ish inch Note series and 10-inch stuff is totally dead :(

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joecool1029
Ah yes, the Samsung that sells 5 different phones under the same model
designation. Will be interesting to see if _all_ the submodels and variations
get updated or if carrier branded models will languish.

Nokia (HMD Global) has probably been the most reliable Android vendor in the
Android One program for actually running long support cycles. Oneplus has been
'ok'. I have a Moto X4 that got 3 generations of official OS support and
continues to get monthly security updates as well as a fully working LineageOS
port to Android 10.

Nothing compares to first-gen iPhone SE though that is getting yet another
year of updates. 6 major OS releases will have been supported...

~~~
RealStickman_
The android community is still the most reliable with updates. (My oneplus 3
is still getting updates with LineageOS and so is the oneplus one)

~~~
joecool1029
Ultimately can't rely on this. The LOS devs are good but there's still going
to be a point where blobs can't be adapted well or at all to new android major
versions.

Also specifically more on point with Samsung: They are a vendor that's
notoriously bad to community support. I would not make purchasing decisions
based on the hopes that the community is going to pick things up after Samsung
decides to drop the ball.

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throwawaysea
Why define it by generations instead of time? And also the fine print notes
they do monthly and quarterly security updates. What happens if a more serious
issue comes up in between those regular updates?

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aunetx
I guess that's great... Now we need other manufacturers to do the same, and
IMHO extend this time to be at least of 5 years.

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SylvieLorxu
So, 3 to 4 years. Still less than Fairphone's 5 years. But hey, an improvement
is still an improvement.

~~~
lotsofpulp
It says “up to” and restricts to “select” models. I don’t see the improvement,
the press release isn’t claiming anything.

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bitdizzy
Thank you for submitting this as it reminded me to check the support status of
my phone and it turns out that support ended in March this year. I suppose now
I have to get a new phone. I don't think I will be getting another Android or
iOS phone.

~~~
danieldk
If length of support is your concern, why not iOS? Apparently, iOS 14 will
support the iPhone 6s, which means that this 2015 phone will be supported
until at least 2021.

~~~
bitdizzy
Length of support is not my only concern, but even if it were, I would prefer
to have a phone that works until its hardware is literally incompatible with
the network, even if I have to keep it up to date myself.

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olliej
I’ll believe this when I see it.

There have been multiple “we’ll support releases for X years” in Android land,
all of which have seemingly disappeared without providing the claimed support.

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Zenst
Most people would be more interested in just getting security updates and bug
fixes for 5 years+ or more.

~~~
hocuspocus
Yes exactly. As a user, running the latest Android version on old hardware
isn't terribly useful. And even if every manufacturer did the same, it
wouldn't make developers' life much easier given the hardware fragmentation.

Google should really figure out a way to push security updates without the
OEM's involvement. They can already update everything that's bundled in Play
services, and core apps like the browser and the webview. It's good, but not
enough.

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joemazerino
Finally?

