After Lollipop & Marshmallow being snubbed by the majority, how is Nougat going to fare?

[rong21]

I'm totally confused along with everyone else here. I'm not sure what the OP has against MM or Nougat. Lollipop had issues but MM and N have been great.

 

[Markxmlx]

You cite absolutely no sources, talk about a "site" this info is from and make claims with absolutely no evidence whatsoever. Are you even using Android? Are you using a $50 android phone running Froyo and using that as a reference for the software experience that everyone should be using to determine the quality of Android Lollipop, Marshmallow and Nougat?

Engadget gave Lollipop 9/10.
https://www.engadget.com/2014/11/14/android-lollipop-review/
The Verge also praised it. 8.7/10
http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/12/7203161/android-5-0-lollipop-review

Marshmallow reviews:
The Verge 8.5/10 - http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/15/9542307/android-marshmallow-review
TrustedReviews 9/10
http://www.trustedreviews.com/android-marshmallow-review

Every review I have read for these new versions of the OS have praised Google's repeated success at iterating and evolving the Android platform to be more aesthetically pleasing while also being more functional at the same time.

On top of that who are you to evaluate the quality of a product you barely use regularly (15% battery usage in a day)? You didn't even bother the mention the device you are using and what issues you were having.

I see why so many people I know use iphones, I thought it was a status thing, but after playing with some, I realized it's because they just plain WORK.

Oh wait. I think I know.

It's a given that broadening the feature set will in turn result in higher system requirements but you can't improve software by thinking about how 3+ year old hardware will handle it. Most people upgrade their phones at least every two years so it would not make sense from an efficiency stand point to use the resources to indirectly support devices that barely anyone uses anymore.

Furthermore, Google does all of this while managing to sustain millions of different devices with different hardware configurations with Google Play Services that are able to run on a variety of versions (most support KitKat and up). If a two year old Samsung device can't run the latest version well the blame can't be diverted to Google or the OS.

As a user above demonstrated with an image most existing Android devices are running Lollipop. This comes from the Android developers site which provides this information so that developers know what versions of Android their apps should be targeting.

Additionally, I have witnessed first hand how these OS's are like on launch. I've had a Nexus 5 running Lollipop and it was excellent. After that it got upgraded to Marshmallow and it was even better than Lollipop. Faster, smoother, while having more features than ever before. My mother still uses a Galaxy S4 with Lollipop and it's still very useable. It's still smooth and responsive.

Now I have a 6P running Nougat DP5. Again, it runs very well. It's pretty much release ready at this stage.

Your distaste for the latest versions of Android are likely the result of having used some bad device which is simply not a fair way to objectively determine the quality of any software. It's like calling Windows bad because your trash $500 laptop with an awful screen and abysmal hard drive couldn't run it properly and then comparing that software experience to that of Mac OS X running on a $1500 MacBook Pro. Senseless.

Alternatively, if you were using a Nexus device I would assume that you have never cleared your cache or performed a factory reset if your device was running into problems such as rogue apps draining the battery or causing performance issues immediately after updating to a newer version of Android or even bothered to ask someone for help.

My opinion is that this is a grossly ill-informed post with absolutely no knowledge used to write it.

I honestly can't tell if this post is serious or not but it really got on my nerves.

 

[TJA3500]

Kit Kat used a lot more resources than Lollipop or Marshmallow.
Google developed material design to be a lot less heavier that Kit Kat and all those before it.

 

[J Dubbs]

I honestly can't tell if this post is serious or not but it really got on my nerves.

Ahh....spoken like a true die hard android lover
You're fun
Am I serious or not?.....who knows lol.
But you should read my second post (#14)....in fact you should have read more than the first post before you got all fired up behind the keyboard
Freedom of speech...that's the neat thing about the internet and this forum, you can proclaim your love for the perfection that is android, and I can like certain things about it a lot.....and not like others

And I wanted to add I use my MXPE all day every day, but I use a bluetooth earpiece/headset almost exclusively, and rarely pick the phone up from my desk, or turn the screen on much, so the phone is always in doze mode......which is why I can use 15% battery a day We were discussing that in the MXPE forum I believe, and that was fairly typical with other folks with the same phone habits as me.
The doze feature is the best thing ever put on a phone....period

 

[Aquila]

you can proclaim your love for the perfection that is android, and I can like certain things about it a lot.....and not like others

Agree. There's a lot of stuff in the Android world that straight up would make me hulksmash until I remember, "These are just toys. Doesn't matter". Luckily Android has so many variations that just about anyone can find what they want, and those that can't ... well, we're not interacting with those people here.

 

[swarlos]

Not sure if this is serious or not, but ok. Most of the improvements in LP, MM and N have been on battery life, fixing the runtime and security. Not sure why anyone wouldn't want those. As for being snubbed, MM is already on over 15% and MM & LP combined are over 50% of users. I do recall 5.0 was buggy for a month or so when it first released but 5.1 fixed that and 6.0 released stable. I've been running the N preview on all of my devices since it came out this year and there is nothing to worry about from a stability front. I'm not sure that anyone is seriously making the claim that either L or M was the worst operating system ever. Just out of curiosity, what device(s) are you using them on to walk away with that impression?

FYI : over half of all phones in active use are on 5.0 or higher.

View attachment 235403

That's the problem though is 35% percent of Android phones are using an OS from 2014 and the 15% of devices running MM are now using an OS that is a year old. The cycle is just going to keep repeating. I'd be shocked if at this time next year 20% of devices were on N.

 

[Aquila]

That's the problem though is 35% percent of Android phones are using an OS from 2014 and the 15% of devices running MM are now using an OS that is a year old. The cycle is just going to keep repeating. I'd be shocked if at this time next year 20% of devices were on N.

Sure, but that's not commentary on the quality of the software... It just means people ought to stop buying bad phones.

 

[ptkelly]

There is nothing wrong with the phones. I live in Oaxaca, Mexico, and most of my friends can't afford new phones every year so they are using older phones. But, not a one of the is "snubbing" Android 5, Android 6, and there is sure interest in Android 7. But, absolutely none of my friends can buy a new phone just to get the new operating system when Android 4.4 runs their phone quite well.

Rather than users snubbing newer OS I think it speaks volumes for the satisfaction people have for even the older versions of Android.

 

[gammerthumbs]

Have had LP and MM on the Turbo 2 with no problems. Don't know why you are worried about N it should be solid.

 

[LeoRex]

That's the problem though is 35% percent of Android phones are using an OS from 2014 and the 15% of devices running MM are now using an OS that is a year old. The cycle is just going to keep repeating. I'd be shocked if at this time next year 20% of devices were on N.

Once N is released, I'll have it on my phone in as much time as it takes me to download the image and load it on my 6P. As an example...

Google can't force OEMs to get new versions out to their phones faster... they are trying their best to encourage it, and trying to modify Android to make it easier... but even then you have the issue of old phones, still in use, that are long past their expiration date.

The last release of KitKat is now well over two years old... 4.4.4 dropped in March of 2014 or there abouts, but that was specific to Nexus devices and some Motos... 4.4.2 was the last mass market version of KK, and I think that came in Dec of 2013... and you can STILL find phones getting sold running that release. Hell, prior to the suit against Samsung, you could still buy some JB phones as of a few months ago.

So while I recognize everyone's situation is what it is... anyone who says "Oh, my old S3 is still good enough"... there are several dirt cheap and current devices on the market that would probably blow them away if the S3 is what they consider good enough.

 

[DLK1]

After the MM debacle I have NO DESIRE to upgrade. If I could figure out a way to block it I would. If anybody has a way to stop the N update I'd appreciate it if you shared. I used some of the suggestions offered by members here to block MM but none of them worked.

Root your phone and you will not get updates!!!

 

[DLK1]

I have lots of contacts, data, photo's, some docs, all my moto voice locations saved (which you have to do individually AT each location), linked hotmail accounts (what a pain that was), plus the phone itself customized to my liking. It's really not acceptable in my book to have to erase all that and start over each time you upgrade, and sometimes even for a security patch or funky app from the app store. You shouldn't have to fdr for everything.
That's not what I consider user-friendly at all....and there's tons of folks here who agree.

I had KitKat on my phone when I received it, I have upgraded to Lollipop and them to Marshmallow. I have never done a FDR, I have had to problem with it. I figured I would do a FDR if I had problems, I never had any problem so I never did a FDR. My two cents worth.

 

[ptkelly]

I used to dread doing a factory reset but with the new automatic backup to the Google Drive it's really a snap. I have all my WiFi passwords in place, my contacts all restore. I don't usually have many photos on my camera but they come back. I do have to reset settings on some of my apps but not all.

No, doing a Factory Reset is not the hassle it used to be.

 

[Not Quite Right]

I've have had Nougat on the 6p for awhile now with no issues to speak of. There's no way I would go back to Marshmallow at this point ...

 

[mwake4goten]

Re: After Lollipop & Marshmallow being snubbed by the majority, how is Nougat going to fare?

I don't think it's necessarily the fault of Google. It's a general issue with all software upgrades. As an avid PC user I used to update my computer to the latest Windows software when ever they were released and more often than not I got slower performance. New OS software means you should update your hardware as a general rule. Nougat should be fine for the devices that are designed to exceed the recommended specifications and phones designed to run it like LG V20 and Nexus phones but for other older phones it will be hit and miss. Obviously phones like note 7 should be fine but 2 year old phones like HTC one m8 will probably see performance hits therefore it won't probably be worth it...

 

[ptkelly]

A friend's son lost his smartphone in a flash flood and I went shopping for an inexpensive replacement. I live in Oaxaca, Mexico. Things are expensive here but services are cheap. The "flagship" Samsung and LG phones were way out of my price range at $700 USD and up. The cheaper smart phones were coming with Android 4.4, KitKat. Then I stumbled across one that was cheap enough I thought it was an error but the store assured me that was the price. It came with Android 5.1. Works amazingly well. I sent a text message to my nephew giving the specs and he's excited, too.

Side note. I did a cache wipe this morning on my phone running Android 7 and I was shocked at how quickly it finished. Less than five seconds.

 

[theduder]

Marshmallow is a "fixed" Lollipop, but to be fair, Apple also focused on fixing buggy iOS during the same time period. They both got on shaky ground 2yrs ago.

N is rock solid stable - I'm running it on two devices. There are a ton of improvements under the hood and in the UI. No question if you can get it, upgrade.