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A comment on Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Google's best efforts. Parent comment

Re:Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Go... by rcarmo on Thursday April 25, 2019 @09:41AM (#19747941)
As someone who spent the better part of two decades at a carrier (I joined as an acqui-hire to build an ISP), I've always been fascinated by the amount of crap carriers insist on having pre-loaded (and kept working) in device firmwares.

Carriers want (demand, even) that their online portals, customer support apps and (most importantly) ringtone shops be pre-loaded on devices, and have always tied that to critical firmware drops for network defaults, radio compatibility testing, and a lot of other (truly critical) functionality that only actually exists on the device's radio baseband and has zero to do with the handset OS these days.

Source: I was one of the program managers for the flying circus that was Vodafone 360, when we tried to work with Samsung to build a vertically integrated handset like the iPhone. This sank (mercifully) without a trace, and to this day I summarise what happened by explaining that Samsung actually had two engineering v-teams: the Galaxy team and... everyone else.

And we got everyone else. It doesn't excuse a lot of what was decided, but it was instrumental in killing the service.

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Re:Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Go... by grumpy-cowboy on Thursday April 25, 2019 @09:47AM (#19748021)
They will not be able to force their crap in my future Librem 5 phone.
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Re:Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Go... by rcarmo on Thursday April 25, 2019 @09:50AM (#19748056)
I appreciate the independent thinking behind this comment, but seriously, what completely broke the carrier model was the iPhone.

When we started discussing customisation with Apple, all they ever allowed us to do was add a default bookmark to Safari. Period. Finito.

Looking back, that was the sanest thing any handset manufacturer ever did for the entire industry.

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Re:Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Go... by inetknght on Thursday April 25, 2019 @11:21AM (#19749077)
Kudos to Apple for that.
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Re:Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Go... by Starknaked on Thursday April 25, 2019 @01:27PM (#19750424)
How did carriers incentivise customisation for manufacturers? Did Apple essentially turn down "easy money" to maintain product integrity?
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Re:Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Go... by scarface74 on Thursday April 25, 2019 @03:41PM (#19751765)
Apple’s m.o. early on was a take it or leave approach with the carriers. Usually the largest carrier in a market would refuse their demands but a smaller carrier would acquiesce. Then the larger carrier would start losing customers since they didn’t have the iPhone and they would come to the table.
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Re:Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Go... by rcarmo on Thursday April 25, 2019 @05:22PM (#19752639)
What do you mean by incentivise? Either manufacturers delivered custom firmware or they carriers didn’t sell their devices, period. Apple changed all that.
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Re:Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Go... by Starknaked on Thursday April 25, 2019 @07:38PM (#19753546)
I see. That makes sense if you upgrade/buy through your carrier. That isn't something I've ever done so my carrier has never been a limitation on the phones I can get. I guess Apple made the carriers realise that everyone will get the phone they want with or without them in the purchasing cycle.
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Re:Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Go... by oblio on Friday April 26, 2019 @04:46AM (#19755722)
Most people get their phones from carriers.
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Re:Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Go... by Aaargh20318 on Friday April 26, 2019 @05:10AM (#19755810)
Why would you want to buy a device from a carrier ? Just buy a phone from wherever and pop in a SIM.
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Re:Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Go... by Tsubasachan on Thursday April 25, 2019 @06:19PM (#19753013)
In the US sure, here phones have always been unlocked.
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Re:Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Go... by JustSomeNobody on Thursday April 25, 2019 @10:10AM (#19748283)
That and that carrier logo in the status bar, yes? I mean why else would AT&T get to display fake 5G up there now?

Edit: Name, not logo

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Re:Android updates are getting slower and slower, despite Go... by rcarmo on Thursday April 25, 2019 @11:01AM (#19748873)
That always had the carrier name (it's associated with the MCC/MNC IDs). I don't recall logos, but it's likely that they would follow suit some day, and AT&T has a very long history with Apple, so...
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