Android updates not as good as Windows Phone

If you buy an Android phone, the key issue is getting software updates from the manufacturer. With Windows in particular, which is the nearest equivalent (one OS on many different hardware devices), MS has a very good system that provides updates to their core operating system for many years after it is first released. This is possible because MS has fairly tight control over the Windows OS, and because the nature of the OS makes it easy to customise for different hardware.

Android is a very different beast, and that creates problems for end users. Typically the stock Android is customised by a hardware manufacturer for their product, and then further customised by the carrier who sells it to the customer. There is a big shoving match as to which of the three is responsible for updates to the software. But the vast bulk of Android devices out there are not able to receive updates for security issues (and Android has had its fair share of exploits). This is because Google can't make an update for the customised Android that the manufacturer has produced for their platform and that in part is due to the nature of Android (and Linux) in respect of the adaption to different hardware platforms. By and large, manufacturers are passing the buck on supporting non-current models of their phones and it is rare to see a version upgrade (compared to the Apple scenario where new iOS versions come out regularly) let alone a guarantee of security fixes for any period of time.

It is for this reason (and a few others) that I have reluctantly concluded that to be sure of getting a phone that will receive a good level of support from the manufacturer for security and version updates, that I will have to spend a little more and buy a Google Nexus. Google makes these phones (and the newer Pixel series) to compete head on with Apple. But the lower end models are still affordable compared with the iPhone (I have many friends who have iPhones and I can't quite bring myself to ask them how they were able to justify the huge expense, since at the time of writing the cheapest new model is $749) - Noel Leeming has an unlocked Nexus 5X for $399. This is really as high as I could justify for a phone, and a long way up from the $149 you could pay for a locked Samsung Galaxy J2 at current pricing (I paid more than that for mine) - $149 is also what I paid for my Lumia 635 and its predecessor. 

The Nexus has 32 GB of onboard memory, but there is no microSD card slot, and it also has a USB-C socket, which means different charge cables. There is also a fingerprint sensor for the unlock, and you get a stock Android version in it, so you aren't missing out on features the OEM has chosen not to implement (as I found with Samsung's implementation of Do Not Disturb on my Galaxy). It comes with Android 6 but Google has guaranteed availability of Android 7. So we shall see.

More Samsung self serving crap and ripoffs

My first Android phone was a Motorola Moto-E dual sim (XT1022) that I picked up from The Warehouse relatively cheaply as it was end of line at that time. A great little phone especially as it was my first use of Android with the main issue being the lack of RAM (only 4 GB). Because Motorola puts out pretty much the standard Android offering with relatively few apps you get all of the standard Android features and it doesn't gobble up the memory on the phone.

I thought the solution would be a Galaxy J2, which while offering 8 GB of RAM has filled a lot of the extra space with useless Samsung apps that can't be uninstalled. And in fact some of these apps are stuff like the Phone and Messaging apps which have terrible usability features that you can't fix in any way. Because Samsung is another huge greed driven corporation whose agenda is to drive everyone towards the high priced Galaxy S premium phones which give you the nice customisations I am sure and all the extra features but frankly the prices people have to pay is ludicrous, up there with Iphones for sure. Who wants to pay that much for a phone when you can have a tablet with a much larger screen?

The biggest hassle with the J2 is that Samsung decided they wouldn't put the standard Priority Notifications feature into their low-end phones. Instead they replaced it with a one size fits all feature called Do Not Disturb. Both of these systems are intended to do the same thing, put the phone onto silent when you don't want to be disturbed. But Priority Notifications has a timer that you can turn it on for say 2 hours and then it automatically turns off so if you are in a meeting, and this is crucial, it will put your phone back to normal after that time elapses. Samsung's DND feature only has one predetermined timed schedule possible, there is no ability to turn it on "on the fly" casually without mucking about with a whole lot of settings. So there have been many occasions when I have missed calls because I put the phone on silent and then forgot to put it back on after a meeting or something.

Apart from that I also find the phone has problems detecting when it should stop trying to connect to Wi-fi because I am no longer at home, and has to be restarted quite often because it has dropped internet connectivity. An expensive lesson I have learned, with successive Microsoft and Samsung phones, as well as Canon cameras, is that big corporate agendas see the main purpose of the lower end of the product range as free advertising to push people up to the higher and more profitable end of the market. On the other hand, those old phones do make great media players. My old Lumia, which only had a few months use as a phone and is still in top condition, is now a Bluetooth capable media player which makes it very useful around the house with one portable Bluetooth speaker I got recently and the ancient sound system in the lounge with a Logitech bluetooth receiver.

The other thing is Samsung dragging the chain with updates because Marshmallow should be available for this phone but there is no sign of it and in a lot of cases there is extreme irresponsibility since security updates are not being pushed out by vendors. MS has also dragged out or abandoned older Lumia owners as there is no sign of Windows 10 Mobile coming anytime soon.

At the moment I am considering whether to use the Moto E again or go for a new Moto G Play which is $299 (unlocked), the problem is you can't get a cheaper locked phone as Vodafone don't carry Motorola but at least you do get those options of running the standard Android instead of the Samsung proprietary and stripped implementation of the UI, with 16 GB of memory which is massive (I am already getting "out of memory" errors on the J2 when app upgrades are needed) and won't be clogged up with useless Samsung apps.

I think the lesson for all of us is we have to be that much more vigilant about being locked in to proprietary hardware with the limitations for software in these days. Thankfully I already had that instinct long ago with PCs which has saved me when it came to the point Windows was no longer a palatable offering from MS and apart from the HP tablet (which could probably run Linux) I haven't got any computer hardware that restricts software/UI choices. Of course the Samsung Android tablet I have is a locked-in platform but it is wholly different as I mostly use it with third party apps and it is not a phone. So it is an acceptable compromise provided Samsung keep up to date with security updates for Android 6.