now both windows mobile and ios upgrades bypass carriers

Come on android do the same.

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/45174/microsoft-contro...

The only way to do that is surely through mobile data? How many people use that anyway? How much will it use?

I use a tiny amount, and I'm sure many do. If, when I turn it on, (normally off to save battery life), I kept getting hit by OS security updates I would get quite annoyed. The point being that when I turn it on I want to use it immediately.

OK, I expect there will be a "Later" option. That doesn't really fit well with the way I for one use mobile data. In a hurry or something important. So (a) no time when I've done what I turned it on for, and (b) simply forget until next time.

Edit: Just realised they don't really mean "Carrier". They mean the hardware vendor, such as Samsung/LG/etc. I'm not sure how that would work on Android, unless they make it non-tailorable and we all get vanilla.

Edited by RobertoS (Sun 17-May-15 23:02:49)

its not do with data, its that carriers want control of the updates, but they hold them back so they can sell new phones.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

The only way to do that is surely through mobile data? How many people use that anyway? How much will it use?

iOS uses WiFi only for updates and does delta downloads. About 30 to 50mb for the small updates, and 250 to 300mb for the larger ones. There are about 4 or 5 a year?

You know about them via either the press, or an indicator on the settings app.

Edited by jchamier (Mon 18-May-15 05:09:44)

as I said data is irrelevant here, people can upgrade over wifi.

android has a security problem due to the fragmentation, this is mainly due to end users relying on carriers for the updates.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

... they don't really mean "Carrier". They mean the hardware vendor, such as Samsung/LG/etc. I'm not sure how that would work on Android, unless they make it non-tailorable and we all get vanilla.

To me, carrier is the service provider, not the phone manufacturer. They are very often not the same. In the case of Apple, they are never the same.

It is the phone manufacturer they are by-passing, not the carrier.

I understood that some carriers load up the phone you buy from them with a further layer of junk apps even on top of the unwanted c**p that the manufacturers install. Wasn't there a lot of noise a couple of years back when Vodafone glued a dating app onto the main screen?

I don't have a Windows phone and Tesco Mobile thankfully load NOTHING onto my SIM only deal but anything that gets the latest os to the customer's handset unadulterated by manufacturer or carrier is to be applauded.

Now if only they could ship Windows updates to my laptop and obliterate the bloatware, save me the trouble of doing it.

John

phone vendors and carriers both same issue.

So here is what happens.

1 - Google release new version of android, its not specific to any phone so doesnt include drivers, carrier apps etc.
2 - Phone vendors e.g. samsung, sony, htc etc. Then will make new versions of rom's for their devices based on what google releases, they will only do this for recent phone model's when a phone gets old enough they stop this process.
3 - The carriers 'after' the vendors do new versions may then ammend these again for their own purpose, typically branding and adding their own apps. They usually support the same phones the vendors do.

So as you can see there will be an obvious delay between when google release and when end users get the updates,when samsung did 5.0 for the S5 e.g. 5.1 was already released by google. Second old phones dont get the updates and unless you prepared to root your phone there is no way to get newer rom's on those old devices. Rooting your phone typically voids warranty and the custom rom's are usually more problematic than official one's.

There is also often many minor releases google release to fix minor issues and patch security holes, and vendor's typically skip over these.

If you buy your phone from a carrier, then the carrier handles the updates so you have to wait for #3.
If you get it unlocked not tied to a network then your updates come from #2.
Some models such as the nexus phones will get from #1 and as such get more frequent updates.

Edited by Chrysalis (Mon 18-May-15 17:40:21)

This is to do with major OS upgrades, e.g. Android 4.3 Jelly Bean to 4.4 KitKat to 5.0 Lollipop, not the interim software updates. There is often a great delay, sometimes extending to infinity, between the OS vendor, e.g. Google, releasing a new version and the carrier networks getting it out to their custs of their mobile phones, if at all.

The manufacturer! Not the carrier.