About to buy my first Android phone; a bit confused about the OS:

[kwitel]

Im trying to understand why its such a big deal to get your particular phone (in my case, the HTC One) with the latest OS.

Can you not just download the latest OS when you get the phone?

Im trying to figure out which HTC One to buy with Verizon; some sellers have it for less, but it comes with 4.1, while VZW is more expensive, but it comes with 4.2.

Any help/explanation here is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Google_Superuser]

With Nexus devices the update is rolled out as soon as Google releases it and if you don't feel like waiting you can flash the factory image but that will wipe the phone.
With Google Play Edition devices google releases the update then the manufacturer (Samsung or HTC right now) tweaks it and releases and it then rolls out to customers
With carrier phones Google releases the update then manufacturers tweak it then carriers tweak it and then it rolls out to customers. Thats a lot of middlemen which means some carriers will have updates faster than others so verizon phone could be on 4.2 but an ATT phone (just an example) could be on 4.1 it just depends on which carrier deals with updates faster

 

[kwitel]

With Nexus devices the update is rolled out as soon as Google releases it and if you don't feel like waiting you can flash the factory image but that will wipe the phone.
With Google Play Edition devices google releases the update then the manufacturer (Samsung or HTC right now) tweaks it and releases and it then rolls out to customers
With carrier phones Google releases the update then manufacturers tweak it then carriers tweak it and then it rolls out to customers. Thats a lot of middlemen which means some carriers will have updates faster than others so verizon phone could be on 4.2 but an ATT phone (just an example) could be on 4.1 it just depends on which carrier deals with updates faster

So if I bought a ONE with 4.1 installed, how difficult would it be for me to get 4.2?

 

[Google_Superuser]

So if I bought a ONE with 4.1 installed, how difficult would it be for me to get 4.2?

Your choice is 1....wait for your provider to release the update or 2 go through the process of flashing a custom recovery and custom 4.2 rom which may or may not be as stable as a stock rom. There are usually other pros and cons to doing this as well.

There is a Google Play Edition version of the HTC One out there so it might be worth looking for a 4.3 based gpe rom if you decide to go that route.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[anthony2558]

So if I bought a ONE with 4.1 installed, how difficult would it be for me to get 4.2?

Hi. if you going with Verizon it will have 4.2 if you buy it from the Google play store it will have 4.2. If you get it anywhere else it should only have 4.1. Now to get to 4.2 from 4.1 without it being a release from the carrier you would have to unlock the boot loader and root the phone. http://www.xda-developers.com/andro...one-m7-and-install-recovery-xda-developer-tv/ This will basically void any warranty on your phone. I do believe there are ways to go back to stock without showing any tampering. Doing this is somewhat nerve wrecking the first time. But if you follow the directions carefully and do your research first you should be OK. If you wing it you run the risk of your phone becoming a 600$ paper weight. I'd go with the Google play edition, but you would loose the HTC camera software and a couple of other little things. 4.1 to 4.2 is not a big change in my opinion, and 4.3 should be pushed out sometime between October - February. (My speculation)

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

 

[garublador]

Android isn't like Windows where lots of drivers are pre-installed or easy to get and the hardware is either standardized or modular (there aren't PCI slots or SATA cables you have access to like in a PC). The hardware is much more integrated and the OS only has the drivers installed that it needs to work. Each different phone has a unique version of Android specifically made to work with the hardware in the phone. In other words, Google released the code for their new version of Android, but it's modified by the phone manufacturers and in most cases the carriers to become the OS on your phone. So you can't just install the new version because it isn't available.

People sometimes make their own versions of Android that work with their phones and that's what a "custom ROM" is. Some guy who presumably knows what he's doing modified the code to work with a specific phone.