Droid Turbo: Lollipop software update?

[jjjmmm]

Ry, I've seen that.

A marketing page created 5 months ago (?) when the phone comes out is NOT an update.

Anything since then? Anywhere? That's my point to the person I quoted above. No one is even giving us periodic updates. I'd settle for an official post saying "hey, we're upgrading the Droid Turbo directly to 5.1! It will take us some time, but we're working on it!"

But no, we have to scour social media for developers to (accidentally) say something they shouldn't.

It's super frustrating. In no world will additional communication make this situation any worse.

 

[doogald]

Have we *ever* gotten *any* update from an official source, other than that single post on Google+?

Yes, and it's all in this very thread.

From March 18: http://www.droid-life.com/2015/03/18/droid-turbo-to-be-updated-straight-to-android-5-1/ (original source was a G+ thread with a comment by Luciano Carvalho of Moto, since deleted.)

From CEO Rick Osterloh on March 25: https://twitter.com/rosterloh/status/580845535973740545

And, as already posted, official word when Lollipop was released that the Turbo was getting the update. There are probably more, that's just from recent memory.

This is par for the course for Droids since new management when purchased by Google. The Droid Maxx had about the same level of communication from Motorola (and literally nothing from Verizon until the update was pushed.)

Oh, wait, found an older one from January: https://plus.google.com/+LucianoCarvalho/posts/cSmnePt6zpP which says that all 2013 and 2014 devices will be getting Lollipop soon (I bet he wishes he never said "soon" at this point.)

 

[Ry]

What exactly is "evolving over time?" They left that part out.

While it was important to let owners know which handsets would get Lollipop, it is unlikely that part is going to "evolve."

It covers them should one of those handsets not get the Lollipop update.

 

[Ry]

Yes, and it's all in this very thread.

From March 18: http://www.droid-life.com/2015/03/18/droid-turbo-to-be-updated-straight-to-android-5-1/ (original source was a G+ thread with a comment by Luciano Carvalho of Moto, since deleted.)

From CEO Rick Osterloh on March 25: https://twitter.com/rosterloh/status/580845535973740545

And, as already posted, official word when Lollipop was released that the Turbo was getting the update. There are probably more, that's just from recent memory.

This is par for the course for Droids since new management when purchased by Google. The Droid Maxx had about the same level of communication from Motorola (and literally nothing from Verizon until the update was pushed.)

Oh, wait, found an older one from January: https://plus.google.com/+LucianoCarvalho/posts/cSmnePt6zpP which says that all 2013 and 2014 devices will be getting Lollipop soon (I bet he wishes he never said "soon" at this point.)

I believe he was asking about non-social media posts.

 

[Ry]

Ry, I've seen that.

A marketing page created 5 months ago (?) when the phone comes out is NOT an update.

Anything since then? Anywhere? That's my point to the person I quoted above. No one is even giving us periodic updates. I'd settle for an official post saying "hey, we're upgrading the Droid Turbo directly to 5.1! It will take us some time, but we're working on it!"

But no, we have to scour social media for developers to (accidentally) say something they shouldn't.

It's super frustrating. In no world will additional communication make this situation any worse.

Who says they're saying things they shouldn't be saying?

And that customer support page is official. It's not what you want, but it's still valid and as non-social media official post.

 

[Ry]

I continue to maintain that they could do better than they do with communication. I've said a number of times that I am not looking for a deadline date. I am reasonable and realistic, and that is too specific. They could be more forthcoming with the status of updates on an ongoing basis. A continuing conversation, not a deadline.

They could and they should as far as I'm concerned. That's excellent customer service. Instead, they cower from the lowest common denominator that will freak out if they don't get the update on the first day of whatever range they might shoot for.

In discussing the topic here in the past, my main frustration is that posters take an either/or mentality...either they should give us THE date, or they shouldn't tell us anything. Or at least, that it's OK they don't tell us anything.

What Moto, its defenders, and plenty of other companies say by way of defense (we can't give a date), also usually includes what they could do (the situation is fluid). So, stop taking a fluid situation and trying to hang a deadline on it. Take a fluid situation and update us as it changes.

Not a hard thing to do.

If they posted the same "we're still working on it" update weekly, that probably wouldn't be enough. And it's pretty redundant until it's ready to ship.

The situation is fluid. Lollipop 5.0 was the target and continued to be the target. Today, they were able to say that it changed to 5.1.

 

[doogald]

I believe he was asking about non-social media posts.

The Rick Osterloh update tweet was from an official "Ask Rock Osterloh" event that Motorola held on Twitter on March 25. It's not accidentally released information (as are none of the posts I've linked - Motorola carefully uses social media). And the social media posts, all covered on sites like Droid Life and Android Central even, are all sourced from official personnel at Motorola. I'm not sure why they are less relevant than a post at Motorola's web site.

So you can stay up to date without "scouring social media". Just follow Android Central.

 

[Daniel Padilla]

With Samsung pushing out Lollipop with VoLTE today for Note 4 on Verizon, you do have to start wondering what's going on at Motorola.

 

[tdizzel]

If they posted the same "we're still working on it" update weekly, that probably wouldn't be enough. And it's pretty redundant until it's ready to ship.

The situation is fluid. Lollipop 5.0 was the target and continued to be the target. Today, they were able to say that it changed to 5.1.

You beat me to this.
I'm not sure exactly what people want. They tell us what they can tell us when they can tell us something. Are they supposed to post what piece of the code they're currently working on every week? Are they supposed to tell us if one of the programmers calls in sick so we know it'll be ready one day later than it would have? The whole "communicate more even when there's nothing to really communicate" doesn't make sense to me in the least.

 

[doogald]

With Samsung pushing out Lollipop with VoLTE today for Note 4 on Verizon, you do have to start wondering what's going on at Motorola.

I guess we should all remember that the droid phones are *made* by Motorola but they are Verizon's brand. Verizon controls the update schedule. It's possible that the update is ready from Moto's end but Verizon doesn't want to for some reason. Or maybe Verizon wants some particular app on that isn't ready yet.

Verizon definitely never shares update schedules for the Droids with consumers.

 

[tdizzel]

Ry, I've seen that.

A marketing page created 5 months ago (?) when the phone comes out is NOT an update.

Anything since then? Anywhere? That's my point to the person I quoted above. No one is even giving us periodic updates. I'd settle for an official post saying "hey, we're upgrading the Droid Turbo directly to 5.1! It will take us some time, but we're working on it!"

But no, we have to scour social media for developers to (accidentally) say something they shouldn't.

It's super frustrating. In no world will additional communication make this situation any worse.

"Anything since then? Anywhere?" Yes. On social media. That's the way things have evolved. Companies all over the world are taking to social media to communicate with customers. If you don't want to go along with that then you're likely going to be left behind - complaining that you don't know about things that everyone else knows about. And you don't have to "scour" social media. I follow Motorola on G+. When their engineer posted about the Turbo going straight to 5.1, Motorola shared it and I knew. When their CEO was going to be answering questions on twitter, Motorola shared that and I knew. And its not an accident when they announce they're gonna be answering questions and then answer them. Motorola shares lots of info on their G+ account so no, I don't "scour" social media, and I still get plenty of info.
You want to know what's going on? That's understandable. You want to dictate the manner in which that information is communicated? That's probably not gonna happen and you should get used to disappointment if that's the case.

 

[teeitupmo#WN]

Verizon opened the Galaxy S6 for preorder yesterday. Seems to me they are using their time and efforts to make sure the S6 is prepared for a good launch. As opposed to prepping the 5.1 update for a 5 month old device like the Turbo.

 

[tdizzel]

Verizon opened the Galaxy S6 for preorder yesterday. Seems to me they are using their time and efforts to make sure the S6 is prepared for a good launch. As opposed to prepping the 5.1 update for a 5 month old device like the Turbo.

So you think the sales and marketing people double as programmers? And you also think the largest carrier in the US can only work on one phone at a time? Really?

 

[teeitupmo#WN]

It is not what I mean brain child.

 

[JJ Jones]

The real question is "does the Turbo NEED lollipop?"
For me, no it doesn't. And unless it brings an exponential increase in battery life and an increase in functionality, I'm fine where I'm at.

Sent from my Ballistic Turbo

 

[teeitupmo#WN]

I agree, I am fine with 4.4.4 as well. It is quite stable, operates very smooth, and battery life is what I expected.

 

[KPMcClave]

You beat me to this.
I'm not sure exactly what people want. They tell us what they can tell us when they can tell us something. Are they supposed to post what piece of the code they're currently working on every week? Are they supposed to tell us if one of the programmers calls in sick so we know it'll be ready one day later than it would have? The whole "communicate more even when there's nothing to really communicate" doesn't make sense to me in the least.

"They tell us what they can tell us when they can tell us something." That's my point, no they don't. I'm not expecting a lot either, but as I said, they can absolutely do better than they do. The only reason we tend to hear anything beyond the most broad "...will update to Lollipop..." is because doofuses who don't know what "confidentiality" means leak the soak tests to AC, Droid Life and the like.

We've begun working on Lollipop 5.1. We've hit a snag but it shouldn't take too long to resolve. Hoping to have Lollipop rolled out in April.

Broad, fluid, good customer service. And yes, Verizon is a part of this, too.

 

[tdizzel]

"They tell us what they can tell us when they can tell us something." That's my point, no they don't. I'm not expecting a lot either, but as I said, they can absolutely do better than they do. The only reason we tend to hear anything beyond the most broad "...will update to Lollipop..." is because doofuses who don't know what "confidentiality" means leak the soak tests to AC, Droid Life and the like.

We've begun working on Lollipop 5.1. We've hit a snag but it shouldn't take too long to resolve. Hoping to have Lollipop rolled out in April.

Broad, fluid, good customer service. And yes, Verizon is a part of this, too.

You just gave an example of the kind of communication you'd like, and that is exactly what we got from Moto. They said we'd get lollipop. When that situation got changed, they told us we'd be going straight to 5.1 because it had volte support baked in. So if they're updating us when things change what more do you want? Is it back to what me and Ry said? Do you want them to come out every week and say "yep, we're still working on it"? Or does it really just get down to you wanting to know when the update will come?

Posted from my Droid Turbo, Kelly and Ozone

 

[jjjmmm]

Do you want them to come out every week and say "yep, we're still working on it"? Or does it really just get down to you wanting to know when the update will come?

Why do some people assume we want something as often as daily or weekly updates? That's ridiculous and not what anyone is asking for. The reason I asked what kind of official updates we've received (and I'll concede that the posts on social media count), is that I wanted a generally tally of updates we've received on this device. Looks like we've received 3-4 updates over the course of 5 months which really only give one message: Droid Turbo is getting Lollipop, and we're targeting 5.1.

This is great. What I think many of us would like as an improvement is a simple, general idea of a timeline and more frequent general updates. A monthly status update would go miles - something like "We're still working on bringing Android 5.1 to the Droid Turbo, hopefully in the first quarter of 2015, but don't hold us to that. Will give you another update in a month."

Sure, if they miss their deadline some people will get mad. But opening communication and being honest with us will be a net benefit to the community.

(And granted, delays could be on Moto or Verizon's end, which throws an extra, super frustrating monkey wrench into the situation.)

 

[mobrules]

Well they are pushing 5.0 to Note 4. I've stayed out of the discussion because up to now I haven't cared, but if they are gonna push it to the 4 I would have thought we would have gotten it.