why did google allow manufacturers control over the OS again?

[anon(4777221)]

Android PIE just released and my SONY android tv is still on 7.0 Nougat. Same mistake as android allowing tv manufacturers control over updating, why would they for TV's? Do they really need to apply their customizations? when their ui and devs team are utter garbage. Playstation's UI is awful, and just look at the store app that is preloaded...literally looks put together by an intern.

Over a year to get an update if at all? This is why android is a waste of time and money. All your devices are outdated and apps start to break or can't get new ones.

Android in all forms needs to be EOL, it's the windows of mobile.

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

It's an open source project. The OEM's have a ton of latitude in how they use it.

 

[Rukbat]

There's a layer in Android that connects Android to the hardware - the manufacturers have complete say in what hardware they use - which is why we even have Android TVs and Android car head units. But Google isn't going to write a separate layer for every device every manufacturer makes, so the manufacturers have to do it. And, at the same time, they replace some Google apps with their own versions. And they decide to not support older devices. (A good developer, someone who can dive in and develop the piece of the interface he's working on, can cost the manufacturer $75k/year - or more. And they ave to kept on, even if they only have a week of work 4 times a year. Hire them for the month, then let them go, and they'll find permanent jobs, and in a few months you'll have to hire a new crew - who will take 6 months to get up to speed and complete the project - meaning a 3 month slippage in the update. So Google issues it to the manufacturers in January [the manufacturers get it a month before the public does] and the user doesn't see it until June. While Pixels, or whatever Google is selling at the time, has gotten a security update 6 times.)

That's the "why do manufacturers get to update Android" answer.

As far as why do they stop issuing updates after a certain amount of time - that's a combination of marketing and accounting. If you're stuck on a KitKat device, you've got a lot of incentive to buy a new one, even if the old one is still functioning perfectly. (Anyone in the market for a couple of Note 3s? Perfect condition, rooted or not, 4.4.2, 4,4,4 or 5.0, SafeStrap - buyer's choice on all. But no more updates.) The manufacturer makes money by selling phones, not by issuing free updates.

And it costs as much to update an old device as it costs to update a new one. So if, say, Samsung has a $1 million updating cost per model, add another million for each old phone they want to maintain with updates. (It's not never-ending, though - my old Precedent - also still perfect, is about useless - 117MB - not GB, MB - available to the user? But the Note 3 is going on 5 years old, and will be good for another couple of years, as far as speed, RAM and storage goes.)

So that's why your TV may never get an update, and why Google allows it. (And, as Itsa_Me_Mario said, it's an open source project, so it's almost "anyone is free to use it for any device". (Almost - Google still maintains rights to it, and can tell a manufacturer that, because that manufacturer is making Android look bad, they can no longer use it. Then they meet in court.)

 

[Itsa_Me_Mario]

The updates thing is also addressed by the fact that most oem's are using third-party processors and other Hardware components that require a firmware connected. somos OEMs are either dependent on Samsung or Qualcomm or Intel or Huawei to keep their Hardware updated and those updates are almost never forthcoming for a satisfactory length of time.