G+_Marlon Thompson Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 I'll be writing in to Jason Howell and the team about Android adoption numbers, though I have pointed out in this community and in public before https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MarlonThompson/posts/Be1KPGLBPaB that we should be looking at rate rather than percentage and that the adoption rate of Lollipop up to last month was faster than any previous iteration of Android. And on the issue of bugs, what does ICS and Lollipop have in common? They both brought drastic change to the OS which will of course lead to more bugs, what is different is that a lot more devices were upgraded in a shorter time which meant more people using it in many different ways which and a lot more blogs and podcasts to go and shout your displeasure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Howell (raygun01) Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 It may indeed be an improvement over KK (albeit slight)... I think what frustrates me is there doesn't appear to be a way to improve it more than just incrementally. And yes, I know its just the way it is with Android being so customizable in software and hardware configurations. But the fact is any new version of android will take MONTHS IF NOT YEARS IF AT ALL to hit the vast majority of anyone running an Android device. That's not entirely Google's fault, not entirely OEMs but nontheless its a fact. And in the long term, I don't feel like that's acceptable. Especially not as Google matures Android to the point where really, there should be ways to tackle that more broadly. Play Services is a GREAT step, don't get me wrong. But thats one part of the puzzle. Distribution numbers still do matter to developers and to users (whether they realize it or not). Basically what I'm saying is as much as I fully understand that it ain't going to happen anytime soon, I still can't deny that I WANT AN OOMPA LOOMPA NOW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Howell (raygun01) Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Agreed Taz Hoque. I think where I'm finding myself more often nowadays is: Google's hit great strides with Android. But there's ALWAYS this issue of updates. You HAVE to believe that Google wishes this issue was solved, so I'm positive they take it very seriously. Maybe what needs to happen in an upcoming major revision of Android is some way to erase or mitigate that issue so that system altering updates like the sweeping changes of Lollipop (for example) can happen without the need for delays that result from certification of networks or whatever. There has to be a way to do this. And it might possibly require a re-writing of Android at its core. I'm sure that happens at some point Google says "the only way we could accomplish this was to go back to the drawing board and take what we've learned, and what we know about these challenges and write a new Android codebase that tackles these issues in a way that the old codebase simply could not." Android M: Mulligan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Marlon Thompson Posted April 15, 2015 Author Share Posted April 15, 2015 So Jason Howell I have been thinking about this for a while and let me throw another datapoint at you. The reason why I also hate percentages is that they hide a ton of information. Data suggest that Android adoption rates are higher in so called developmed countries than they are in the so called less developed countries. So that this pie chart looks totally different if you did a country by country breakdown. (which Google will not do) Android one is supposed to address that but it has hit some stumbling blocks and competition from the same OEM's they are partnering with. That is why I say look at the trends rather than the actual figures, because you are fighting against something that has been built up over years. Also consider that we only now have the 3 major OEM's releasing their flagship phones this month. Samsung would rather launch the S6 with the latest software than to push to update old phones. Finally if we again are looking at trends we can also look at iOS that has starting seeing a trend of their adoption rates slowing down http://www.cultofmac.com/319188/with-ios-9-around-the-corner-ios-8-adoption-stops-dead-in-its-tracks/ All of that to say Android adoption rates, nexus updates are a not something that can be easily be discussed, there are so many levels to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Joseph Cappellino Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 I was reading on Android Police's comments (I know....avoid the comments!!!) but people were complaining about the N9's updates (to Taz Hoque's complaint) and everyone pointed to nVidia as being the culprit. I'm sure JBQ could comment on how this works, as this was one of his frustrations while he was maintaining AOSP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Joe Phelps Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 I know that I'm very disappointed in the stability of my Nexus 9. I sure wish 5.1 would come out soon to see if it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_L I Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 There's no way Android gets the traction it got if it isn't distributed in the fashion it was with the myriad of carrier relationships and skins and forks and what not. Otherwise maybe this group is All About webOS. Or All About Windows Phone. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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