Android P Drops Support For Nexus Phones, Pixel Tablet (theverge.com) 86
Google has launched the first developer preview of Android P, the company's new mobile operating system that brings new features and improvements over Android Oreo. Unfortunately, developers will only have a small set of blessed hardware to choose from with Android P: the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, and Pixel 2 XL. Google's Nexus smartphones and Pixel C tablet will not get Android P when it's fully released. The Verge reports: Eventually, Android P will ship on new phones from other manufacturers, along with the handful of handsets that third-parties bother to update, but there are a couple Android mainstays that won't get to enjoy this marvelous future: Google's Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P phones, and the oft-forgotten Pixel C tablet. As Ars Technica confirmed with Google, those devices won't be getting Android P when it's released fully. Also, as Android Police notes, there's no Developer Preview image for the Nexus Player, which came out in 2014, so it might be done getting updates as well. It's 2018, and we're beyond the two years of major OS update support these devices were promised, so this isn't hugely surprising. All three devices will continue to get monthly security updates through at least November of this year, but they'll remain stuck on Android 8.1 for an underlying OS as far as official Google updates go.
Re:2 years? (Score:4, Insightful)
Comparing to Apple's stuff doesn't make sense. The real competition is everyone else.
If someone needs Apple, then they have to have Apple and there's no point in comparing features and prices, because "must be Apple" is the one and only bullet point that matters. And if they don't need Apple, then Apple probably doesn't even make the top ten choices. So forget about them.
If you wanna talk competition, you've got Samsung, Asus, LG, etc all the way down to the cheapest Chinese junk (which is sometimes actually pretty good). And Google's disappointing non-committment to fucking NEXUS devices -- their own stuff!! -- is a huge let-down. Nexus devices are not too obscure for your new OS to have drivers, assholes.
Google's behavior on this is inexcusable. They've gotten some money from me, but that won't ever happen again. Nexus was their reputation, and they squandered it.
Re: 2 years? (Score:2)
Seems like a strange attitude. Google have been publishing their support cycle and end of life for years - certainly since we'll before the Nexus 5x and 6p.
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You do know that "Nexus" devices weren't manufactured by Google, right? My Nexus 7 (2013 model) was made by ASUS. Just because they slapped the Nexus or Pixel name on someone else's product and put plain stock android on them didn't make them any easier to support. They weren't granted the IP to their internals.
Also, Google has been pretty straightforward about their crappy support. Nexus and Pixel lines at least got pretty immediate upgrades while other brands waited years sometimes to update Android
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but I've yet to see anything but perpetual betas from them.
Given that my Moto is so much more stable on Lineage than stock, that must make stock an 'alpha'?
Fortunately, each model has a 'known problems' list that can be queried and people can leave build feedback, so it's far more transparent than any of the manufacturers' builds.
Re: 2 years? (Score:2, Insightful)
I was quite happy with my 32-bit iPhone 5 for five years until the App Store recently went 64-bit only. I was on the latest OS for those five years too. It did not feel sluggish at all to me. There were a few new features like ad block that worked only on 64-bit devices, but my old device was supported for a long time by Apple. Spending a little more every four to five years is better than buying cheap every two years IMHO.
Re:2 years? (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously. I bought my wife a Nexus 9 tablet (2015) and 5X phone (2016), with "now you're having the Google experience." (And a little under-my-breath "better you than me," but also with the understanding that at least it's pretty mainstream and "friendly" compared to how I do things. This was an attempt to provide a wife-friendly platform, dammit!)
She's been generally pleased with the devices, but the Nexus tablet has already stopped getting updates. One of the reasons I bought this stuff, is that I thought it'd keep getting updates for a reasonable amount of time!
In hindsight, she might have been better off with .. holy fuck I can't believe I'm saying this .. Samsung.
I learned two lessons:
1) Never buy hardware from Google. They're untrustworthy and do not stand behind their products. Really, they don't. (Anyone care to cite a counter-example?) A shame, too, since they've otherwise been pretty good devices.
2) Don't buy high-end Android stuff. $250 is about the maximum you should ever spend on either a phone or a tablet. Just get mid-range, use it for 3-5 years, toss it, and repeat.
You think I'll ever touch your "Pixel" shit? Only if I'm a stupid person, incapable of learning. Google, you fucked up.
That Which Shall Not Be Named (Score:5, Insightful)
In hindsight, she might have been better off with .. holy fuck I can't believe I'm saying this .. Samsung.
You can't think of some OTHER unmentionable name she REALLY would have been better off with? One that actually does get support for years? One that is actually serious about security so you don't have to play sysadmin with your wife's devices?
Re: That Which Shall Not Be Named (Score:3, Interesting)
You don't know what you're talking about. I code for both platforms, and Apple's processors are hands down faster; while Androids keep melting in my hand under load. I've seen several Nexus devices throttle the clock speed down by half when under only 70% load. When will android manufacturers realize that plastic housings make terrible heat sinks? Apple phones are great a dissipating heat with metal/glass backs.
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Yours not suggesting shit from apple are you. That stuff is crap.
That's why it CONSISTENTLY blows away the competition, performance-wise.
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I like having root access to my wife's devices.
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I like having root access to my wife's devices.
So do all those App publishers...
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Re: 2 years? (Score:2)
The lack of security patches may be a problem.
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They're untrustworthy and do not stand behind their products. Really, they don't. (Anyone care to cite a counter-example?)
My Nexus 5X screen crapped out and they promptly sent me a new one.
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My Pixel fried itself randomly after 9 months while using the stock cable/charger and because I'm in Japan with an International edition, Google refuses to help. They send me to Google Japan who sends me back to Google USA because Google Japan doesn't sell the Pixel directly themselves in Japan. I bought it in Japan, from a Japanese retailer, but that doesn't seem to matter. I'm stuck with super-slow charging (100mA probably) but the phone still works and charges with other cables. I've never in my life see
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That sucks!
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Just like Google, Samsung only provides normal maintenance updates for 2 years and security updates for 3 years. After that, you're just the proud owner of an insecure piece of junk with the word "Samsung" on it instead of the word "Google" on it.
tl;dr: Nobody gives maintenance updates for Android phones after 2 years, and nobody gives security updates for Android after 3 years.
Re: 2 years? (Score:2)
Security fixes. Windows 7's support cycle is from 2009 to 2020. If Google still maintained the older versions of Android you'd have a point but they don't.
Re: 2 years? (Score:2)
Are there still security fixes for Jelly Bean, Lollipop and Marshmallow? I had a quick Google and couldn't find a reference. My Nexus 7 is on Marshmallow and hasn't had an update to the firmware in 2 years.
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Marshmallow still gets them I think. Google deprecated security updates for Android 4 and 5, and are providing 5.1 updates for a limited time. (These are Android updates) It's up to manufacturers to actually incorporate them and send out an update.
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None of Google, Microsoft or Apple can be trusted. Nor any of the Android or Windows OEMs.
When it comes to buying a phone or a laptop you're deciding who is least untrustworthy, not who is trustworthy.
So I've got a couple of PCs, a Macbook and some Android and iOS devices to develop/test on.
That doesn't mean I'm a fan of any of these companies. At least with Android and Windows you can punish a hardware vendor by switching to a competitor. With Apple you pretty much need to junk their entire ecosystem. Then
Oterwise nobod would buy a ne phone. (Score:1)
Let's be frank: What point would there be, to upgrade your phone, except for the dying battery and the OS not getting security patches?
We have been at "good enough" for about a decade now.
And this is precisely, why open source and modular hardware are so important. They save you a shitload of money.
(A shitload is the official unit of measurement amounting to exactly 1.0 "iPhone X"s.)
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The vast majority of phones are now turning into what modern day printers are. All of them are crap. What's a good printer? There isn't one, they're all bad. You can either choose a bad one or a very bad one. Those are your choices. Oh, but I can buy that more expensive one, it will be better! No, it's bad too! Then of course they discontinue the product, change the design, but functionality, power and speed isn't any different than the model from 2 years ago.
By the way, I would pay good money for devices t
Queue the endless complaints (Score:3, Funny)
Android users: OMG we don't get updates, it's a ploy to get us to buy new phones.
iPhone users: OMG our updates slow our devices, it's a ploy to get us to buy new phones.
All users: OMG {insert our favourite feature here} doesn't exist anymore.
All users: OMG {insert feature we never needed before} I need this now and can't get it!
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Or "I was happy with this feature, and now they've added something that makes it unusable"
With the Android camera, originally you could use the panoramic photograph feature in combination with the zoom feature. You could be at the beach, zoom into a distant island, then use the panoramic mode to get a zoomed-in view of the island. Then you could see all the detail of the trees, mountains at your leisure. Now the zoom is snapped back to default and then you get to take the picture.
If that wasn't enough, now
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Just take a normal photo and crop it down. Digital zoom is a farce.
There are any Nexus 5X still running? (Score:2)
Mine sure won't need any OS upgrades anymore, since it can't even boot.
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Mine and my son's are going along fine.
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The fact that you can only use it when it's connected to a power outlet does limit its functionality somewhat, though.
Google is pretty forthcoming about updates (Score:5, Informative)
https://support.google.com/nex... [google.com]
So much for Android ... (Score:5, Insightful)
They've stopped supporting my Nexus tablet, and now my wife's Nexus phone.
And since I refuse to run a proprietary version of Android with someone's branded shit in it (looking at you, Samsung) ... then I'm afraid Android is pretty much dead to me. Because it comes down to proprietary and obsolete, or Nexus and obsolete.
The reason I bought these Nexus devices is because I expected to get extended support, and a pure build of Android. I realize there was no promise of forever, but this isn't nearly long enough for hardware which works just fine.
Fuck you, Google. If this is the length we get support for our Nexus devices, why the fuck would I buy another one?
Android has become far too much of a moving target, and the market is way too fragmented as every company turns it into a shitty platform to hawk their own crap. Android was a nice idea, but it's just not holding up to its promise. Owning an Android tablet is pretty much pointless to me now, so I'm not replacing mine, just switching back to an iPad.
If Google won't support the Nexus devices, then the entire Android ecosystem is pointless. Every device maker has their own store, their own wallet, and their own crap I have no fucking interest in .. so fuck it, I'm over Android.
I'm not wasting more money on another Android device. Nexus were the only Android devices which made any sense, and if they're abandoning them, then Android has lost all value to me.
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They'll still get security updates. Why do you need the latest version of the OS?
Re:So much for Android ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Few years back, I was excited about the Android touch screens and how neat that you could use them for HMI kiosk type displays. This was when everyone thought desktop Android was for some reason the future and all those all-in-one Android PC's were all over the place. Then a lot of manufacturers started dropping Android. It started getting difficult to get large (20+ inch) Android powered touch screens (I was using them as information screens all over my plant and interactive security camera feeds). Then support started dropping from these devices (Many of them stuck on Android kitkat). The prices skyrocketed from $300 to $1500. Developing for these old versions of Android became a hassle, since everything freaking changed how Android did things in a heartbeat, especially when you wanted to add more fancy things. Old development information just ended up getting google washed, so trying to find answers why X doesn't work for old versions just became difficult. There is nothing wrong with the hardware, it's still pretty nice, but trying to get a new version of android resorts to hoping someone made a custom firmware and maintains it.
I just ended up giving up on Android completely (Had no time to deal with the BS), went with Raspberry Pi's and can get nice inexpensive very large touch screens that work for them. Maintaining them is a snap compared to the junk Android is now. All the Android screens, nice as they were, especially the HP's slate, all into the dump. Meanwhile, my Raspberry Pi's still chugging along for 3 years plus, zero issues. When I want to add more fancy things, no problem! All the libraries work, have the latest updates, works great! Rather spend my money donating to the Raspberry Pi team and linux development. Upgrade? No problem, $30 and I got a more beefy Raspberry Pi! I'm pretty sure I can keep my personally made software going until I die with very little effort.
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check out lineageOS, it will probably support your phone longer then they will continue to work.
my s4 mini is still running fine, getting updates all the time. in fact, i don't buy a phone unless i know it's supported by lineageOS for this reason.
Pretty disappointed (Score:4, Interesting)
I bought my Nexus 5X quite late (bit more than a year ago). This is my third Nexus phone - started with Nexus One, then Nexus 4, now this one).
I didn't expect to get much more than two years of core Android updates from it and it seems that's what I'm going to get.
I'm not disappointed by that - two years for a relatively low end phone (I paid AUD$450 for it new) isn't too bad. But I am massively disappointed by the fact that Google have erased the Nexus line and expect me to jump up to a top-tier phone - over twice as expensive - so that I can make sure I get the latest operating system updates reliably.
There's Android One but after reading their website I still can't figure out exactly what the hell it is. I think it's basically the latest version of Android but if you buy one of those phones, you're "guaranteed" to not get any of the usual vendor crap installed on top of it.
Of course it doesn't matter because I can't seem to buy them in Australia anyway without going through importers.
I feel like Google is missing a massive opportunity to have a Google-branded mid-range phone. But many of my friends were happy to shell out for the Pixel so maybe I'm just a grumpy cheapskate outlier :D
Re:Pretty disappointed (Score:5, Informative)
In Android land, you get the flexibility to pick a whole selection of devices with personal customization. But it also means you get quite the trade-off. Cheap and you get bloat and no-update or Google-tier and you get expensive hardware and get updates. Compare to iPhone land, iPhone only gives you one option, Apple-tier expensive hardware and get updates. After all, if you want updates you need to pay devs to update your device somehow.
Depend on your preference, picking an iPhone might be your easiest and best choice at providing you long update cycle. But if you really want your current Nexus 5X to last a little longer, you could spend some time to install a custom rom still supported after the end of support from either xda-developers [xda-developers.com] or lineageOS [lineageos.org]. If you donation or pay the devs there, they will be encouraged to continue to support your device, keeping it up to date.
What is Android One [androidcentral.com] - tl;dr devices where manufacturers have committed to give clean android updates to the device. As for how long, it will be at least 1.5 years after device launch [google.com].
You can buy them by clicking on the devices at the website [android.com]. If not, you could just copy the device name and ebay / amazon it to Australia. It's not that hard if you really want one. Not to mention, they are cheaper than Pixel phones.
Pixel phone on the other hand is still directly supported by Google and get 2-3 years at device launch (1-2 years remaining).
Oreo ? (Score:2)
So is Nabisco or whomever currently owns them getting a kickback on this or does it being not even related to the baked goods market free them for violated the naming rights ?
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Very cool thanks for the info...
That's entirely fine (Score:2)
Ninety percent of all Nexus 5X and 6P phones have already bootlooped. There is no point in supporting the tiny community of Nexus users whose phones still work,
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Ninety percent of all Nexus 5X and 6P phones have already bootlooped. There is no point in supporting the tiny community of Nexus users whose phones still work,
Well, hopefully this will silence all the Fandroids that crow "Well, my Nexus still gets updates..."
And Google is being pretty non-apologetic in all this:
"It's 2018, and we're beyond the two years of major OS update support these devices were promised, so this isn't hugely surprising."
Interesting that an iPhone 5s can still load IOS 11...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Go, Google, go!
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Do they bootloop because of an OS problem, or ... are they experiencing the reason why Apple slowed down the iPhone 6?
Considering there's an unofficial patch for the 6P that disables teh high speed cores of the processor to lessen the battery load and let the OS boot up, it seems that many Androids are in need of battery management as well - slow dow
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