Great news, especially for the 8% of Android users who actually receive updates.
don’t pixels and Samsungs get updates every month?
I have an S23, it’s definitely not every month. Last update package is currently dated 1st of may.
Is it that high? Not even joking. I was always under the impression that it was much lower, and that many of those that are still receiving updates won’t update (old habits from when updating android could brick your device).
I don’t know. According to this : https://www.statista.com/statistics/921152/mobile-android-version-share-worldwide/ android version 13 and 14 account for almost half the device versions, and those usually have forced auto update and also recent enough to be getting updates in theory…
But if the manufacturers don’t then update their custom bits, the updates don’t make it to the phones. Right? Or is that not a thing anymore?
That is a difficult topic. Google did take steps to mitigate issues there. Android got Hardware Abstraction Layer to prevent blobs from blocking updates ; also, a lot of updates were moved from AOSP to the Play Service, so Google can more easily roll them out. (And to make AOSP and 3rd party roms less of a threat, eh.)
Edit : that said, most android phones have woefully short support period.
It is a difficult topic, but one worth discussing I think. Cellphone security used to be an afterthought, at best. Google (and some rom maintainers) have done an amazing job at improving overall security. They have a long way still to go (such as forcing manufacturers to a certain level support), but what they’ve done thus far is commendable.
