The Samsung Galaxy S24
ebinrock's profile

Teacher

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14 Messages

Sunday, September 9th, 2012 6:51 PM

ANDROID UPDATES NEED ***SERIOUS*** REFORM!!!

Bottom line, this whole business of carriers controlling the updates has GOT TO GO.  A few nights ago, I had to drive 15 miles out to the only official AT&T service center in my metro area, because ever since I updated my Samsung Captivate to the Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread OS, I have had a plethora of problems ranging from very poor battery life to bad GPS to lockups so bad I couldn't even turn the phone off without removing and then putting the battery back in (try doing that with some of these newer phones with built-in batteries - DUMB IDEA!).  When I got to the AT&T service center the woman (who had kind of a snotty attitude like I was a number) said there have been some known issues with updates people have done with Kies, and mentioned something vaguely about Ice Cream Sandwich that just got pushed out, so my ears perked up ("ICS is available for the Captivate now?")  That got me excited, even though it's still not the latest Android as we all know, Jelly Bean is.  She said no, she was talking about other phone models that got ICS pushed to it.  Stupid woman, why the he-- would you mention other phones to me when they're not relevant to me??  So no, I found out that AT&T EXCLUSIVELY got a better Gingerbread update (which is still eons behind the latest Android update) with the bug fixes.  But *I*, the customer and the user, couldn't simply have downloaded that bug fix from either Samsung, AT&T, or Google.  And what I say to that is, WHY THE HE-- NOT!!!???  Do the carriers love to just make customers waste gas and time and wait in long lines for something that should be so simple!!??  This is a really FOULED UP way the cell phone industry works in the U.S.

 

WE THE CUSTOMERS of Android products EMPHATICALLY DEMAND that you carriers RELINQUISH CONTROL over all Android software, and let all of us, no matter what phone or tablet, DOWNLOAD THE LATEST ANDROID OPERATING SYSTEM DIRECTLY FROM GOOGLE.  YOU GOT THAT!!??  Google, are you reading this??  Make downloading and installing Android as easy and simple as upgrading to the latest version of Windows on a PC, and leave the carriers out of this whole thing.  And AT&T, if you're reading this, you can stick your uninstallable AT&T Radio and U-Verse Live TV apps up your...

Teacher

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14 Messages

12 years ago

Oh yeah, and for some reason you don't do this to Apple iPhone owners, so why Android, huh?

Professor

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1.5K Messages

12 years ago

All updates are not 100% controlled by the carriers. Samsung has to create the new OS for the phone before pushing out to the carriers. If Samsung decides not to create Jelly Bean/ICS for the Captivate (most likely because the specs arent powerful enough), then AT&T cannot release it. 

 

As for your problems, have you tried factory resetting your phone? It usually fixes a lot of problems right after an update. It will "refresh" your OS as I like to put it.

 

You also might wanna post in forums or try and research answers to your problems before deciding to drive out that far, because some problems are just simple fixes

 

Teacher

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14 Messages

12 years ago

That response still does not address a fundamental issue -- WHY is Android plagued with the chronic problems of OS fragmentation as I described, plus skins and bloatware from the manufacturer and carrier?  The iPhone is carried by 3 of the major U.S. carriers, yet no iPhone is ever riddled with bloatware or OS skins, nor do iPhone owners ever have to wait for an update -- it comes right away directly from Apple.  There is a definite difference in treatment by the carriers between Android and iOS.

Professor

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1.5K Messages

12 years ago

Well I do agree with you on some part, but the reason why Apple is easier because they do not have to go through different manufacturers to make updates for specific phones. They only have iPhone and thats it, so it its easier for them. Androis is on HTC, Samsung, Nokia, and many more manufacturers, so its up to the manufacturers to make the OS for their specific phones fast enough. If anything, its the manufacturers fault for releasing slow updates, not AT&T.

Professor

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3K Messages

12 years ago

Yes, there is a huge difference in the carrier/manufacturer relationship of iOS versus Android, this is obvious to anyone that follows smartphones.   Apple has a lot of name cache and influence, and basically blackmail carriers into accepting what Apple wants, which is no carrier branding on the iPhone firmware, they are in charge of updating the OS, etc.  If the carriers want the iPhone (which they all do) they have to accept Apple's terms.  Its a change in the way things have been done in the industry, and its the exception to the rule.  For Android manufacturers, its really the other way around.  If the Android manufacters want AT&T to carry their phones, the manufacturers usually bend to AT&T's will.

 

And as already mentioned, iPhone just has one manufacurer and device.  Android has many manufacturers and dozens of current devices.  Skins and other OS modifications are the way these manufacturers differentiate themselves from one another.  Call it variety or call it fragmentation.  But its both one of Androids greatest strengths and weaknesses at the same time.

 

If you want things done the way Apple does it, buy an iPhone.  If you want freedom and choice, buy Android.

Tutor

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15 Messages

12 years ago

Excellent reply!  I get so sick of hearing the whining about fragmentation.

Professor

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1.5K Messages

12 years ago

Great reply Red

Teacher

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14 Messages

12 years ago

Sure, pass the buck, carriers.  Then how do you explain the PC industry, where Microsoft made one Windows OS at a time, and, assuming you had the horsepower, you could put it on a Dell, an HP, a Gateway, you name it?  You always got the OS directly from Microsoft.  You didn't have to rely on individual PC mfrs. to push out their own iterations of Windows.  Why is smartphone technology not as modular?

Teacher

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14 Messages

12 years ago

I know, Google should have had the guts to do things the Apple way from the start, and just make one killer Android smartphone and get so much excitement around it that it could have dictated terms to carriers.  Too late now, I guess.  This fragmentation and other garbage would almost sway me to buy an iPhone, were it not for the fact that Google has such a good web/cloud-based ecosystem.  You got your email, your contacts, your calendar, your task list, maps, and on and on all from Google, and syncing all of that stuff to an Android phone is so seamless and automatic, you don't even have to fuss with it.  I also get free turn-by-turn navigation.  I can also stream my entire music collection, all stored free on Google Play Music, right to my phone.  If Apple had all of this cloud-based ecosystem (correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think iCloud is as comprehensive as Google is with all the cloud-based apps), I might reconsider iPhone.  Anyway, the Apple App Store does have Google Sync software, but for how long?  Apple for whatever reason could pull the plug on Google sync support tomorrow, which would leave me in a lurch if I owned an iPhone.  But I do hate Google's fragmentation issue.  I should be able, as a customer, to get whatever latest OS Google has to offer, with advanced features and bug fixes, without having to make an unnecessary trip down to the AT&T service center and wait in line (and even then it's not the latest OS anyway).  That's just plain horrible service.

Teacher

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14 Messages

12 years ago

I'm so sick of having to go to AT&T (or any other carrier for that matter), hands out, begging for a software fix (after unnecessarily making a carbon footprint with my car and waiting in line), when I could just download the latest fix from Google and get the latest features in the process, if only Google would get a brain about all this and stick it to the carriers and the manufacturers.  They're certainly now in a position to do so, with Android being the #1 selling OS (by device) in the world.

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