"A lot of the android devices I see (people using) are not the ones I would recommend " - Myria...

[G+_David Herron]

"A lot of the android devices I see (people using) are not the ones I would recommend." - Myriam Joire on the last AAA. So true.

[G+_Lucas Nichols]

I agree. All sorts of outdated pieces of crap still in the market. It really should be illegal Imo.

[G+_Richard Galvan]

Yea, I caught that.  That is an excellent observation!

[G+_Dylan Tracy]

The LG Ally is perhaps the first example I can remember of this problem.

People get free phones with 1/2 to 1/3 the computing power of am iPhone, but chalk the fact that it sucks up to the OS, not the POS hardware.

[G+_George Fromtulsa]

The AAA crew has an unnatural "dislike on" for Android users who haven't junked perfectly fine Gingerbread phones---for no reason other than the convenience of developers. If what's wanted is Gmail, phonecalls, and quick pics, low end will serve. The Nexus One that cost like $550 was SuperPhone! Still works fine and I use it when I want to bulk down from my Galaxy Note. But many apps are so big now there's no way developers will be selling them to me for that phone. The S4, today's SuperPhone, has so much kruft, the 16GB one usually sold hasn't much more effective room than my old N1.?

[G+_Chris]

Wholeheartedly disagree. The AAA crew doesn't "hate" on anyone.

 

Those who have older phones should be encouraged to upgrade for a number of reasons.

1) Security. There are numerous security exploits in older versions of Android that will never be fixed due to mfgr/carrier disinterest.

2) User experience. You may be comfortable with what's familiar but the user experience is drastically improved with 4.0+.

3) Software support (this is also a security concern). I do not think it's reasonable to expect software developers to continue to support old/deprecated platforms.

[G+_Corey Fields]

George Fromtulsa - it doesn't sound like you heard the context of the remark. They were talking about the problem with people comparing the iPhone to a crappy Android phone, and besides, the quote is from a first time guest on the show, not one of the AAA guys (who I've never heard hate on anyone).

[G+_George Fromtulsa]

How often have they bemoaned the fact users stubbornly keep using Gingerbread, giving it such a persistently high % of active Android installs?

 

Sure, those who listen to AAA are most likely to geek out on the latest, and pay the money to stay current. But the real world and Third World is "the Android Arena," and in that world not everyone automatically takes a new $2,600 two year contract that includes a state of the art phone "subsidized" down from $600 to $200 as a signing lure.

 

The real world is the cheap MVNO and low end phone. (USA) What's it like in Mumbai?

 

I have what was a state of the art Acer tablet on Honeycomb, where updates stopped. Works fine, BUT recent updates to Google+ are too much for it. Graphics overload? Found old APK, which works fine.

 

Should I bin the tablet to improve Jelly Bean's %?

 

To Google's credit, Gingerbread is receiving security enhancements direct to device, apparently no carrier or manufacturer delay.

[G+_Chris]

George Fromtulsa a) I took umbrage to your use of the word "Hate". They're passionate about the platform and they want to see everyone get the best experience possible. Frankly the pre-4.0 days were the dark days as far as user experience as well as developer tools.

 

b) You said it yourself. Those who listen to AAA are more likely to stay current on Android tech, be interested in the latest and greatest, upgrade their phones more often. That's the audience. That's the focus of the show.

 

c) It is unreasonable to expect developers to continue to support an outdated platform. 

 

You can't have it both ways. If you are using an outdated piece of tech don't expect the latest software that's not designed for it to run flawlessly if at all. Again, the mobile market (especially tablets) is not mature.

 

Honeycomb was the FIRST tablet version of android. You got in on the ground floor. You should have known what you were getting into when you bought it. To now complain, 2 years later, about your early adopter tech is disingenuous.

 

No, you shouldn't "bin" the honeycomb tablet to boost JB market share. No one has even implied that. Market share numbers are for bean counters and headlines. You "bin" the tablet when it no longer suits your needs. If your needs include being able to run the latest software then yes, it may be time.

[G+_George Fromtulsa]

Chris Michaels I used the phrase as I most often have heard it.

 

e.g., from the Urban Dictionary,

 

"Please don't hate on me for being beautiful."

 

And the phrase, as I used it, seemed to capture in colloquial English of 2013 the attitude I get from the AAA cast toward Gingerbread, Gingerbread devices, and Gingerbread users.

 

Why don't they upgrade?

 

Money! 

 

Don't care!

 

Gingerbread works just fine, and unless they get a new device, their existing phone can't do much more, anyway.  Limited RAM, Limited Storage, Slow CPU, Slow GPU.  But it works as a phone, sends texts, does light browsing, and even processes Gmail.

 

Still, in the interest of civility I have replaced the H word in my original post ---

 

*

 

I didn't have any problems with Gingerbread.  I still don't.  My Nexus One is my standby phone, headboard alarm clock, and music player.  With 512 meg system RAM, it is obviously limited.  But it works fine as a phone, has a decent camera, emails, texts, and suffices for light web browsing.  It even has an SD card, and let me move APPS there.  As Google as deprecated the SD in newer versions of Android, the advantage of doing that stands out.

 

*

I have no problem with the focus of the show being what's new.  No one wants to hear about what's old.  And within the constraints of memory and system, I've picked up some tips and apps from the show that work fine on my old reliable Nexus One stuck on Gingerbread.

 

But the "upgrade" refrain gets old.  I have friends who have much less disposable income than I do, and they're running either "feature" phones or "low end Android" on prepaid.  They're not upgrading.  They can't upgrade.  I'm pleased for the possibly tens of millions still "stuck" on Gingerbread that Google is paying attention to Gingerbread security. 

 

So instead of the "pressure" from the AAA cast toward upgrade, upgrade, upgrade, how about a more measured, "And if you're still on Gingerbread, this APP will / won't work?"

 

*

 

With still roughly half the Android devices in use on Gingerbread or less, were I a developer I would want my APP to work for those millions of potential customers.  iOS Developers face a similar quandary, but are in a worse situation.  Apple won't LET them keep old versions around.  Tens of millions of perfectly good iPad 1s were "orphaned" back on iOS 5.  Developers either have to walk away from that market (and leave customers who paid them money in the lurch) or add no new features from iOS 6 and the upcoming 7.

 

At least developers could leave an older Android version up (or provide it for direct download).  Once it's in the bag, only a big security problem would demand updates and continuing support.  Old or new, there's still compatibility problems among phones and OS versions ----

 

*

 

I don't expect the latest software to run on my "ancient" Honeycomb tablet.  And I'm here to admit a mistake.  The Acer did upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich where it stopped.  Still, the latest version of G+ was more than it could handle.

 

Thing is, it freakin' auto-updated.  Fortunately, on that tablet (which I never rooted) G+ is not a "system" APP, so I was able to delete the App and re-install an older APK.

 

I'm perfectly fine with the older App.  And I've now turned off Auto-Update.

 

I'm not complaining about my "early adopter tech."  I'm happy with the gadget, it has given years of service, and is still going strong, sitting on a bookshelf, ready to hand me my latest emails.

 

My only complaint is that auto-update slid on an APP that had it been a non-removable system APP would have greatly reduced the table'ts utility.

 

I heard Steve Martin in an interview with Leo Laporte  when he first described such software changes as "deprovements."

 

Here's wondering if the Google App Update Service is "smart" enough not to slide over a new "deprovement" that pushes an older gadget off the cliff?

[G+_Chris]

You and I have had different experiences. I had a gb Droid X2 that I would sooner chop my left arm off than go back to.

 

I shall agree to disagree with you.

 

Also, fyi, app installs never overwrite the system. Only full os updates can do that [non rooted]. You can always uninstall updates and return to the version installed with your system.

[G+_George Fromtulsa]

Chris Michaels App installs don't overwrite the system? On my devices that aren't rooted, e. g., Nexus One, they deliver with Apps I didn't want. Yes. I know it says Nexus. And I know Facebook is very popular. But it would not delete, and I wanted the space.

 

I don't use either Google Currents or Music on my Nexus 7. Not rooted. Won't delete, will disable. Still eating space.

 

Those aren't system apps, but if auto update is enabled as it was on my Acer, Google can slide in a deprovement that sorta works, but mostly crashes.

 

I use Google Music, but it is a resource hog, and the cached music threw my 16GB Galaxy Note into brainlock. Can't move it to the ext SD, thanks to deprovement science---