Why are updates dependant on phone manufacturer and operator?

[Astridax93]

Is it not possible that Google could design android to sit under all ui and operator modifications so that Operators and Phone Manufacturers wouldn't have to modify their system to work with the new android version.

This way users could automatically update android when google released updates, and HTC etc could update their UI and sense etc, whenever they chose. This therefore reduces fragmentation, meaning software would be compatible with a larger majority of phones.

Is this a systemic flaw in my understanding of the way android works, or is this possible.

 

[Shachren]

Nope. In that case they'd have to keep all the old hardware up to date, which is a tremendous waste of resources. Not to mention, each company has their own individual setup for their respective devices.

 

[mrmojoz]

Is this a systemic flaw in my understanding of the way android works, or is this possible.

It can't work the way you described as of right now, the carrier customizations are too deeply embedded into the OS.

 

[Astridax93]

Yes but is that the carriers fault or Google's fault for not providing the necessary libraries to be used by the carrier?

 

[Rhonen]

I think it has to do with the Carrier. For instance, 2.2 has tethering wifi hotspot. Most Carriers want to charge extra for tethering and/or wifi hotspot. So letting users upgrade on their own would bypass their extra fees.

 

[Thefoodman52]

It all boils down to this:

Is the update going to cost the carrier money in fees they can't charge anymore? If yes, then it's delayed months at a time while they remove the features they don't want their customers having access to without paying.

Is the update insignificant and can't bring in revenue? If yes, then it is delayed at most a week or two, then it's either put online or offered via an over the air update.

 

[chris0101]

The main reason as pointed out above was the customization by each carrier and phone maker.

What I would love to see are more unlocked devices that ship with just stock Android. I think that things like HTC Sense are starting to become a bit obsolete considering how Android has evolved.

 

[CirkDroid]

The main reason as pointed out above was the customization by each carrier and phone maker.

What I would love to see are more unlocked devices that ship with just stock Android. I think that things like HTC Sense are starting to become a bit obsolete considering how Android has evolved.

I couldn't agree more. The sales people make such a big deal about the omgleetsenseui, but frankly I'm not impressed. I couldn't ever run Sprint, but a friend of mine dragged me into the Sprint store for advisement on whether or not he should get an Evo.

As it turns out, all of the cool things he THOUGHT he could do with that HDMI output, can not be done. And lots of the things he liked about my N1 wouldn't work on an Evo, again thanks to the sense ui.

Nine times out of ten, even the things that get added, don't get implemented correctly.

He ended up buying a Droid.