"Will I get KitKat?" and Why I'm Not Worried about the Answer.

[Good OL MC]

Android Central has me really in to making the distinction between AOSP Android, Google Android, and OEM Android. I always had a tendency towards this but I've been put over the edge lately.

Rather than say it's "fragmented" I think about it more as just an expression of the open nature of the platform. It is the same thing, really, just a different way of looking at it.

You get a bunch of different takes on what Android could be, how it should look, and what the software can do. At this point it's hard to even complain when something like the One or the S4 don't get the latest version of Google's Android. Samsung has basically made it's own and built a unique feature set on top of it. If you don't like that you shouldn't have purchased a Samsung Android phone to begin with (GP Editions being excepted, of course).

This is now of course even easier because Google Play Services have been decoupled from the big Android updates and the Googley apps are right up in the store.

There are downsides when you have multiple versions of an OS floating around and some popular devices not running the same software - but just as a concept the "fragmentation" bothers me far less than it did two to three years ago.

What is Stock Android? | Android Central

 

[Golfdriver97]

If you don't like that you shouldn't have purchased a Samsung Android phone to begin with (GP Editions being excepted, of course).

That is where gaining root access and flashing ROMs comes into play. I have a Galaxy S3, and am running an AOSP ROM.

 

[Good OL MC]

That is where gaining root access and flashing ROMs comes into play. I have a Galaxy S3, and am running an AOSP ROM.

Quite right! I'm assuming that a few factors led you to putting that on your phone rather than keeping Touchwiz or getting a Nexus. It is of course usually an option to put some work in and modify your device.

My point was more along the lines of accepting different devices for what their OEMs made them to be. The general Android software gives you the power to modify it with varying degrees of success if you just want the hardware experience, but I think there is a strong point to be made for just taking the software as is. I think that with the exception of Motorola the OEMs are looking to make platforms on top of Android. I played with a S4 the other day and was almost lost in how to use it. I've felt that way with Android variants before but Samsung's software just felt so different for me considering I haven't been along on their UI upgrade path.

While I personally don't like what they've done with their software I can see the point in it and I can say the same about other OEM variants as well. That would be why I'm not as concerned about getting Android upgrades as I used to be.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Quite right! I'm assuming that a few factors led you to putting that on your phone rather than keeping Touchwiz or getting a Nexus. It is of course usually an option to put some work in and modify your device.

My point was more along the lines of accepting different devices for what their OEMs made them to be. The general Android software gives you the power to modify it with varying degrees of success if you just want the hardware experience, but I think there is a strong point to be made for just taking the software as is. I think that with the exception of Motorola the OEMs are looking to make platforms on top of Android. I played with a S4 the other day and was almost lost in how to use it. I've felt that way with Android variants before but Samsung's software just felt so different for me considering I haven't been along on their UI upgrade path.

While I personally don't like what they've done with their software I can see the point in it and I can say the same about other OEM variants as well. That would be why I'm not as concerned about getting Android upgrades as I used to be.

I grew tired of TouchWiz ROMs. I am on Sprint, so I could not get the Nexus 4.

As for more customizing options, many people don't know about Launchers or what they can do. That alone can open more options of making your device your own.

Overall, I think updates to the OS should be received quickly. Carriers are too over-concerned with bloatware to get those updates out.

 

[Mike_47]

If Android 4.4 will bring some improvements to the Nexus 4, great. When it does come, I'll probably wait a few weeks. Why? Version 4.3 works so well. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. - Ancient wisdom O

 

[mohit9206]

My phone still is running the now ancient 2.3 Gingerbread OS and am fine with it as it still does most things i want it to do.The things it does not allow me to do is hardware related as its a 2 year old device. So hardware is the new software.

 

[Tall Mike 2145]

I would completely understand if Google had the same reputation for shoddy code that Microsoft does. However, in general, Android OS updates have been improvements, either in terms of stability, performance, or feature set. So, I've really never understood all the foot-dragging I've seen in the Android community.

 

[Pollster]

Carriers are too over-concerned with bloatware to get those updates out.

It's not the carriers, it's the phone manufacturers. How much resources and cash will they devote to making an update happen?
Apple got an update pushed through Verizon in a week. Verizon! In a Week!
The key here is that it wasn't the software Apple that pushed it through. It was the hardware Apple. Google doesn't get their updates pushed that fast because it's not their updates.
Motorola is in charge of getting their updates (Android and otherwise) pushed through carriers
HTC is in charge of getting their updates (Android and otherwise) pushed through carriers.

I have no doubt Samsung has the scratch to push updates through as fast as Apple, but their customers don't really care on a mass level, so it just isn't a priority for them to move faster.

 

[Ry]

It's not the carriers, it's the phone manufacturers. How much resources and cash will they devote to making an update happen?0

Yup. You can't blame Verizon or AT&T or any other carrier if an HTC isn't getting an update if HTC isn't even working on it. Other than retention and maybe reputation (mostly within the "hardcore" community), there really is little incentive for any OEM to work on an update which takes away resources from working on their next product. Plus, regular consumers probably don't even care. As long as their phone works, they're happy.

Apple got an update pushed through Verizon in a week. Verizon! In a Week!
The key here is that it wasn't the software Apple that pushed it through. It was the hardware Apple. Google doesn't get their updates pushed that fast because it's not their updates.
Motorola is in charge of getting their updates (Android and otherwise) pushed through carriers
HTC is in charge of getting their updates (Android and otherwise) pushed through carriers.

I have no doubt Samsung has the scratch to push updates through as fast as Apple, but their customers don't really care on a mass level, so it just isn't a priority for them to move faster.

Apple probably got their update through Verizon quickly because it was a security update (7.0.2). iOS 7 as a whole though was probably in carrier testing through the entire beta period - maybe even before that.

 

[Targon]

I personally use the Galaxy S3 with the official firmware on it, and while those who have used stock Android don't like it, there are a lot of things going for TouchWiz, including making it an easier adjustment for those who come from other platforms. A menu button(which Google is currently against) is actually a positive thing for those who think to try hitting the menu button to get to features/options. It's a mindset that you either feel is natural, or is not that decides if you want the button for menu, or some on-screen control.

So KitKat...with the way Google Services will allow for updates to some components, I HOPE that KitKat is all about layering the OS so that almost everything in the OS above the true core of the OS(Linux Kernel plus customizations such as TouchWiz, Sense, etc) will become modular, and will make it so FEATURE updates won't require a normal OS update. Google made it fairly clear that it would prefer not to have carriers be able to stop updates, and the best way to do that would be to make it so true OS updates are not required to release major new features that don't require new hardware.

Features such as screen mirroring via wireless may require new components in the phone to make them work, so adding them to older devices wouldn't work for example, even if the OS itself can do it. We shall see how it goes. Still, they key to if I will root my phone and put a custom firmware on it for ME is all about if the new OS versions bring enough of an improvement over the stock/official firmware to void the warranty and be worth the effort. Is 4.2.2 really so much better than 4.1.2 to bother with, knowing that 4.3 WILL be released officially in the next few months for my phone? Is 4.3 even so much better than 4.1.2 that I MUST have it today, rather than in another few months? Will my phone get 4.4/KitKat as an official release at some point? If 4.3 official is released, and then 4.4 is announced to not be in the plans for my phone, THEN I will decide, but not until that point. Samsung, HTC, Motorola, and others will all say SOMETHING about devices that will get the update to KitKat within 2 months after the official 4.4 announcement/release from Google, so people should relax about it until that time.