Updating Android

[RhinoCan]

Can a phone update to newer versions as long as it meets the minimum requirements for that version - like memory, maybe processor speed - or are phones effectively capped to never be able to install later versions of Android?

My main reason for asking is that my brother recently hauled his old cell phone out of a drawer and decided to use it again after several years of disuse since it will be cheaper than a landline. It's a Sony Xperia running Android 4.3. I went to the updates screen on the phone to see if it offered any updates to later versions of Android but it didn't list any. That has me wondering if it is even possible to update that phone to, say, Android 8.

By the same token, I'm wondering about *my* phone, a much newer Samsung A5 (2017). When I got it, it had Android 6 on it and I've upgraded to Android 7 and 8 in turn as they became available. I know Android 9 has been out a while but I haven't been offered it yet so I'm wondering how or even if I will get the chance to upgrade to Android 9?

 

[Dannydet]

That all depends on the manufacturer, not the carrier, if devices can be updated.
Seeing that the device is 7 years old, it's not going to get anything close to 8

 

[Hadron]

The OS has to be built for the device. There is no generic android that can be installed on any device. Therefore there are only 2 ways to get an update:

* the manufacturer produces one for that phone.

* someone else, with the necessary skills and knowledge, builds an Android ROM for the phone based on a newer version of Android.

The latter depends on the device having its bootloader unlocked and a custom recovery module being built for it, so that you can install unofficial, unsigned system software.

Both depend on the availability of device drivers compatible with the hardware and with the newer android version - but the manufacturer is infinitely more likely to have the resources to produce them or get the component manufacturer to do so. Sooner or later this becomes the hard limit - though there are a few devices which the community have managed to produce an amazing range of ROMs for, most lose even community support after a few years.

Manufacturers generally stop providing updates between 1 and 3 years after the phone is first released. So if you aren't going to get into custom software (or don't have a device with a decent developer community) that is, as Danny has said, the end of the story.

 

[RhinoCan]

Thank you both for your answers. I expected there would be a limit to the highest level of Android I could install but wasn't sure so now I have a better idea of the way it all works.