It's that time of the year again. The time when Google announces, with much fanfare and a new statue, the formal name of the next version of Android. This year's Android is going to be called Nougat, perfectly keeping in line with tradition of borrowing a name from a popular sweet. But as sweet as the Nougat is, just like Marshmallow before it and the Lollipop before that, the question most Android users will have is this: When will my phone get it?
The answer, as depressing as it always has been, probably never! Unless you are among the handful of users who have a recent Nexus phone or a high-end Android phone, chances are that the Nougat update will not come to your phone.
Let's talk about some numbers first. Over a year after it was first unveiled and nearly nine months after it reached consumers, Android Marshmallow is right now running on just 10 per cent Android phones. However, do note that this 10 per cent is largely made up of the phones launched after October with the Marshmallow inside them. The number of existing phones that have been updated to it is even lower.
The story was same for Android Lollipop and versions before that and it would be same for the Nougat.
Also Read: Nougat is the next version of Android
The reasons why your phone most likely is not going to get Nougat are many. The fault primarily lies with the way Android ecosystem has been structured. Google provides the core Android code but it doesn't guarantee that this would reach all the supported phones. The pushing out of updates is the responsibility of phone makers. Google only concerns itself with the current Nexus phones. But the phone makers have their own reasons to push out or withhold updates.
First of all, there are just too many Android phones. Samsung, which is the world's biggest Android phone makers, sells tens of different models of Android phones. The same is true for other companies, including even India-based companies like Micromax and Lava. Now, even as these companies are selling all these phones, they don't have the resources to validate, test, and modify the Android to suit their needs for each of these phones.
Second, even if they can support a number of phones -- Samsung, for example, can try it -- they don't want to do because either they are more interested in selling a new phone with latest Android to consumers or they see it as a differentiating factor for the their high-end phones. For example, Samsung and HTC make a lot of effort to bring latest updated Android to their phones because those are premium phones but won't do the same for their more budget offerings.
Third, Android phone makers love to modify Android before they put in their phones. In some cases, Xiaomi for example, they just totally change the look, feel and features of Android. All of this is done to ensure a degree of control on the phones these companies are selling for several reasons. But this whole process makes pushing out Android updates very hard because it just takes that much extra time to modify the new version of android.
Fourth, the consumers themselves are at fault. Most of them don't care about updates, In fact, recently Samsung was so fed up of people not updating their phones to the latest software that it partnered with Dominoes and started offering 20 per cent discount on pizza if they did. The consumers also don't look at the software update as a feature. Instead in their phone, when they are looking to buy one, they seek better processor, better screen, more RAM etc but rarely clean and upgradable software.
The fault also lies with Google. Since very beginning it has not emphasised the Android update as something that should be taken for granted. Even now, the company doesn't support its own Nexus phones the way Apple does for the iPhone. It supports every Nexus phone for 18 months and chances are that this year even the Nexus 5, which remains a wonderful phone, may not get Nougat.
So, as a consumer what can you do? Two things: Next time when you buy your phone find out whether that phone will get the Android update next year or not. The Nexus devices and the new Motorola Moto phones always get the updates, at least for 12 to 24 months. The high-end phones like the Galaxy S7 and the One A9 from companies like Samsung and HTC also get the updates. But support for every other phone out there is suspect. Now, that may not look like a big deal when you are buying the phone and are in love with its design, hardware, camera or whatever, but in a year or so when Google brings out next version of Android, you will be probably out of luck. Just the way many are this year as they wait for the Nougat update that won't come.
