An almost nonexistent percentage of users know what version of Android they have or if it's the latest, in the grand scheme of things. In the tech bubble, it's hard to imagine, but I'd go so far as to suggest most Android users don't know they run Android.
If people realized how many security risks they open themselves up to by running old Android versions and that the "your phone is up to date" line in their Settings app is basically a lie, Android would not be the dominant platform on earth.
I don't think most iPhone users DO know what version they have. But they update pretty fast.
Apple pushes users to update with notifications on the device. They add things people really want (there was an article last year or so that the releases with new Emoji get adopted much faster, iOS stickers caused a big push). Plus you get the network effect of someone telling their friends there is a new version. If none of that works, apps requiring new versions of the OS push some people.
Android manufactures may not make new versions for old phones, may not push the notifications about them, and there are lots more kinds of Android phones so just because Jim got the new version doesn't mean Barb can because she has a different OEM. Plus because so many Android devices ship with old software apps are often designed to run on very old releases so they wouldn't push people to update nearly as much (and that's if they can update, you can't be sure a new version is even available for your customers).
This problem is a LOT harder the way the Android ecosystem is setup.
Of course Windows Phone had update problems. Carriers would hold back or not even release updates. And then there was Microsoft who was osborning their OS's and phones.
The point here is that Windows Mobile has already solved this problem: All Windows 10 devices receive OS updates directly from Microsoft servers, as a requirement of using the platform. (Even in 8.1, if you were on Developer Preview, you got updates straight from Microsoft, apart from carrier/OEM channels.) Drivers/firmware are pushed separately.
This appears to be where Google is perhaps finally heading. Once Treble is out there, Google will change their contract terms to mandate control over OS updates for all devices which license the Play Store.
No Windows mobile has not solved that problem. Any updates involving firmware are still controlled by the carriers. It's a rather moot point as windows phone is dead anyway.
>The new process still does not provide firmware updates, as far as we know, so carriers and their bottlenecks will still be involved in upgrading phones.
If people realized how many security risks they open themselves up to by running old Android versions and that the "your phone is up to date" line in their Settings app is basically a lie, Android would not be the dominant platform on earth.