My guess is it is a self fulfilling prophecy. If a lot of people have older devices, application developers have to support the older API levels.

For example, a store called Safeway decided to cut out an older version of Android. However, they reversed less than a month later.

Speaking of marketing, I think LG does market quite a bit inside the Republic of Korea. I saw a show called oh my ghost and everyone had an LG phone in the show.

I really don't care about apps, I've barely ever ran into app compatibility issues on older devices. What I care about is security updates.

Nobody I know who isn't seriously into tech even realizes that phones need security updates.

The problem is compounded by the fact that every manufacturer has their own schedule for security updates. Just because Android got a widely publicized security patch doesn't mean that their phones will get it any time soon. By the time they do, nobody remembers what it's for.

I'm not sure there's any phone provider that has security updates available the same day that Google releases them, or very quickly at all. I remember the last Samsung phone I had, S7 edge, I went months without updates. Unfortunately, if security is a top priority, your best choice at 1st party phones like Google's Pixel or the iPhone.

I used to use Xiaomi's flagship and it seemed to have fairly regular updates, but every time I installed one it would replace all of my preferences and default to using their own replacements apps instead of stock Android apps that I preferred. I finally had to get rid of it way before the end of its useful lifespan because there there seemed to be a whole lot of issues surrounding its customization of Android. The deal breaker was after an update when I stopped receiving text messages reliably. Sometimes they'd come through immediately, sometimes a few minutes late, and a few days a week they wouldn't come in at all until either 1) I rebooted 2) I lost and then regained cell signal 3) I airplane mode on then off.

I tried all sorts of work arounds, suggested fixes from browsing forums, etc., nothing worked. I liked the phone, but it just got too stressful for work: My boss is respectful of normal business hours, but during the day still relies heavily on text messaging for requests, urgent issues, etc.

I was pissed off at having to put out money for a new phone so early, so I went with the budget Pixel 4a, and honestly I don't see much of a performance hit at all, even though it's about 25% worse on CPU specs. And even though the camera specs are much lower, it takes much better photos. At this point, I'm a convert to 2nd tier Pixel phones.

I am sure you'll end up retiring your pixel 4a far sooner than it will become unusable due to wear and tear due to Google's ridiculously short support term :/

I believe my next phone will be a glorious fruit device, probably a second hand one.

It's good for a minimum of 3 years of updates and tech support, or 18 months after it is last sold by Google, whichever is longer. That's plenty for me, I usually flip my old phone on eBay and use that towards a new one ever 1-2 years.

It may be plenty for you, sure. But you're flipping the phones. I take it there's a market for people who want phones without security updates. That's certainly not me though. I find it despicable that the phone I bought almost 2 years ago (Pixel 3) will not receive any updates after October, and as such, I will no longer use it. But there's literally nothing wrong with the phone, cosmetically it's in near perfect condition, all the hardware works, and it's still plenty fast. As it stands, to get the max 3 years of support, you literally have to buy the phone on day 1. This is pathetic. My next phone will be an iPhone.

Even in Korea, everyone knows what the latest Samsung phones are, but few people keep track of LG's product cycle.

Here, LG is best known for household appliances and the Gram line of ultralight laptops. It's a running joke that even Samsung stores use LG air conditioners. Samsung appliances are for people who can't afford LG. When it comes to phones, though, it's the other way around just like in the rest of the world.

> I saw a show called oh my ghost and everyone had an LG phone in the show.

That's product placement?

If that’s how LG decided to spend their phone marketing budget then someone deserves to be fired.

Few people care about it, especially since the devices don't make noise about but just stop getting updates at some point. Apps tend to be conservative about axing support for old versions too, so little pressure from there.

(And given how little many people actually install new apps etc, I wonder how large the attack surface really is - but I have no data on that)