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I always want to agree with these types of posts, but the reality for me is entirely different. I have three Android tablets that have never seen a single OS update throughout their entire respective lifetimes--I've long come to the conclusion that when a device comes with Android version X, it'll die on version X. It becomes abandonware the moment you walk out the store. I'm faced with old apps that today are crashing all the time, manage to get the whole OS to reboot on a whim, web pages that won't render because the included browser is obsolete, apps that won't install because the OS is too old, etc. I'm done buying Android-based hardware.
Meanwhile, Microsoft's latest mobile platform--Windows Phone 10--which has been all but abandoned, according to all tech media sources, still gets regular updates (the latest one for my Lumia 640 just came out today) as MS is still keeping the phone OS in lockstep with Windows 10 Insider updates. The only app I've ever seen misbehaving in a predictable fashion on it is Microsoft's own Power BI. According to the MS engineer I traded emails with, he's not surprised the app is running into problems "given how resource-starved the Lumia 640 is"--which came as a surprise to me, because I never felt this was even the case with this phone--the OS has never felt sluggish because it's running out of memory, or the CPU was too slow, or anything like that.
So...WP10 is a dead-end, I've been burnt too many times by Android, and I refuse to give Apple a dime. If I had an actual use for a phone, what the heck would my options be??
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Blackberry? Are they still alive?
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I also have their Playbook tablet from way back when. If their current phone OS is the same as their tablet OS, it's also hopelessly out of date. And their app "store" is even more embarrassing than the Windows one.
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My 640Xl feels resource starved as Edge closes by itself, and it "crashes" in the sense the tab won't display anything even when I switch to other tabs. I don't know if it's because I was on the slow ring of insider update, but it's the same on fast ring. I wouldn't mind giving feedback but even that crashes for me.
Hassan
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dandy72 wrote: when a device comes with Android version X, it'll die on version X. It becomes abandonware the moment you walk out the store
To some extent that must be true always. At some point the hardware will not run anything new.
In terms of new major versions of an OS that is probably always true because the new version exists to take advantage of something new in the world. Otherwise there wouldn't be a new version.
I know that there have been updates to my Android tablet but I haven't bothered to check what it is. And I don't expect it to substitute for my computer nor even do that much.
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jschell wrote: At some point the hardware will not run anything new.
Sure, but not a single OS update, ever? I can't help but feel Android device makers are taking advantage of people when their "upgrade path" consists of telling people to replace their devices altogether.
All I'm saying is that my Surface Pro (first gen) tablet came with Windows 8.0, and it's been upgraded to 8.1, then 10. My Lumia 640 phone came with Windows 8.0 and is also now on 10. OTOH, my three Android tablets came with 4.2, 4.3 and 6.0 and that's what they're still running today.
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dandy72 wrote:
I can't help but feel Android device makers are taking advantage of people when their "upgrade path" consists of telling people to replace their devices altogether.
Android is basically open hardware while Apple and Windows are fairly limited in configurations.
I believe there are two parties guilty here; the manufacturers and the providers. I also believe there is some collusion between them to keep us coming back to buy more.
The traditional cell phone purchase model in the US for many years was the two year contract. The cost of the phone was reduced up front and subsidized by 2 years of service and often a phone payment. After 2 years the phone was paid for and that extra (eg) $5.00 went away. The carriers also had carrier-locks placed on them so that you couldn't take it to another carrier.
Then there are the manufacturers. They are dealing with the provides and have to translate the updated Android version to what will work with a particular phone; and further create an additional 5 branches off of it for the universal version as well as 4 (for the US) custom versions as the providers all wanted things customized or removed from it.
Who came up with charging ports no longer working after 2 years I don't know; but that was the lifespan of every Galaxy phone I had.
I'm now using a Nexus 4. Came with 4.2 and received a few incremental updates as well as version update to Lollipop and another incremental. This was over a 2-1/2 year span. But it still works fine today and can still charge up
Director of Transmogrification Services
Shinobi of Query Language
Master of Yoda Conditional
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I hear Nokia is coming back.
I am not the one who knocks. I never knock.
In fact, I hate knocking.
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I've had good luck with my Android phones. My current Galaxy S7 has kept pace with the latest releases and updates. Remember that some of that may be the vendor that's not releasing the updates to your phone. So far Verizon has been pretty good at keeping up with the current version.
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I agree with most of your comments. I too was/am a Windows fanboy.
I gave in and moved over to Apple (simply for security reasons over android).
Even 2 years later my work colleagues are fed up of me saying... but in Windows Phone I could do this and it was better...
but at least the apps work well and I can see how much money I don't have in my current account.... due to buying an iPhone 
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My Huawei P8 got updated from Android 5 to Android 6 and got few security/usability updates. It took a lot of time getting it, maybe because it is carrier-dependent.
I have installed a lot of apps from Microsoft, best of them is the launcher, Arrow. Outlook is good but sync is one-way meaning new contacts/edits does not go back to the Outlook Contacts.
With the Android update Spotify got worse. Under Android 5 it was a protected app, now it is not - or it dies regularly, IDK.
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BrownishMonstr wrote: there's no swipe keyboard
There is Swype on the App Store[^] but evidently what was once a good app has turned sour. I'm sure there are others.
Personally I'm happy with my iPhone. There's not actually much, apart from 10 day battery life, that I really would wish for that it doesn't already have.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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I was considering the 7 plus, but with my missus having one a part of me thinks it makes more sense to have a different phone so we can have the best of both.
I like some of the things on it but I don't think the 8 is worth the price increase.
Hassan
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There's something to be said for being able to share purchases using Family Sharing between iDevices.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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I'd be quite happy if all smart phones self destructed today.
Peter Wasser
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
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I miss Windows Phones.
But I guess there won't be anyone using them now.
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I started out with a Lumia (932 I think) and liked it so much that when the screen got damaged several months ago, I bought the last Lumia 735 they had in stock. ($109 then, probably less now) The nice thing about this one is the expandable memory...with a 64GB micro-SD installed, there's enough room to store all my music.
The lack of apps doesn't bother me as I mostly use my phone as a phone and avoid typing on it as much as possible.
The one thing that does bother me, and it might not even be a phone issue, is that if I am on a call and another call comes in, hanging up on the second call also hangs up on the first call. This really sucks when the second call is a solicitor. 
I'll stick with WinPhone until the carriers stop supporting it...should be good for another few years I think! 
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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Being a windows developer I was always tempted to get a windows phone but by the time I was ready to abandon my Razor flip phone the writing was already in the sky. I went for the Samsung Note series, my primary requirement is as a ereader. I have retired 2 notes and now have an S8+ but all have done excellent service.
I have never rooted a phone and was shocked to see 126 apps being updated with the last OS update on the Note 4, where the f*** did they all come from? The point is that both Notes went through multiple OS upgrades with no problems.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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When my 950XL becomes unusable, I'll probably go Android.
But hell if I'm shelling out big money . I'll just buy cheap knock-offs from Banggood and replace them as necessary.
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Smartphone? You mean thumbphone
In Word you can only store 2 bytes. That is why I use Writer.
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For Android your best bet for updates are Google's Pixel phones. They all get a few years of prompt software updates.
Among branded devices, flagships generally get a year or two of updates; but tend to lag behind Google's phones by a number of months. Android 8 should help there somewhat by offering a stable (we hope) set of APIs that should let the user facing parts of Android be rebuilt for the newest version without also having to rework all of the driver layer components. OTOH given the glacial rate of adoption by OEMs, it'll probably be at least a year and a half before we know how well or if it actually works. (Next spring for the first Android 8 OEM phones, a year to see if it actually does help expedite updates.)
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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I guess I have had a better than average experience with Android. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 2014 that has had several updates (though none in the last few months). I also have a Moto Pure (no vendor software or discount), again several updates have been pushed to me successfully.
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The Note's a flagship; those tend to be reasonably supported. The pure looks like it was a flagship or near flagship by specs (the 808 was used in both depending on if the OEM thought it could handle the 810's excessive heat), even if the name's not familiar to me, and came out shortly after Lenovo completed taking over Moto. At the time Moto was still fairly good about updates, although they've been backsliding ever since. Today's stink is that they've been caught quietly deleting the promise initially made to upgrade the less than year old G4 to Oreo.  
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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... thought I'd share: Saving time online[^]
Yeah, yeah, I know: RH;PAC...
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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