I even asked the sales representative if it would be kept up to date (knowing I couldn't trust them, but was looking for any extra assurance), and they said yes.
Right now it's at 4.3 and wont upgrade...
CyanogenMod doesn't have any way to distinguish which phones are currently receiving security fixes in a timely manner and which are not; nor do they have any list of security advisories covering packages they distribute (go look at any notable desktop/server Linux distro — they all have public lists of security advisories and documentation of what release fixes them).
To my knowledge there is no Android distribution that has anywhere near the cohesive security story — and they're all miles behind any desktop OS.
And looking at my phone, I have no idea how I'm meant to update to the milestone builds. The updater lets me select "stable" or "all (inc. nightly)", and nowhere do the milestone builds appear…
None of this is helping me believe there's really any decent security story. Abandon all users who don't check the website (or whatever) to find out about releases, trusting the built-in updater to provide updates. Never publish any security advisories that cover your distribution…
Same. The newest version which supports my phone is years old, and there are major usability issues, particularly in the dialler interface. The manufacturer (HTC) UI was miles better (i.e., actually usable).
Maybe you need to install CM 11 first, so the system has a base to work with.
I think you can see if your phone gets updates if it's listed as CM11-supported.
Dear Galaxy Nexus users... It's time to let go.
Don't think I've ever owned anything with such a serious planned obscolence issue. Windows supports its OS releases for 12 years (and doesn't lock you in, so you can usually follow official upgrade procedure anyway). And anything "dumber" than a smartphone doesn't really open itself up to these gaping security flaws, so still operates fine after many years.
It became beyond the expected lifespan when it became normal to buy a new one every 2 years thanks to contract pricing and carriers pushing people to upgrade.
2 years is just a cost cutting exercise and inexcusable.
Apple has better support than most, but even their phones degrade with features missing on older phones AND included new features run like ass (every time my fiance upgrades old phone to new iOS she hate life until upgrade).
A 2 year old phone really is ancient... much less three or four... Who actually supports phones that old CONSISTENTLY?
There's no fundamental reason a 2 year old phone should be seen as ancient. Hardware can last many times longer than that, and software can be updated. Google is just not making the effort to support its older devices.
For people like me who don't want to buy a new phone every 18 months (both a wasteful use of my money, and the earth's natural resources), Android is looking like a pretty bad choice.
iPhones have built in time lines (more or less replaceable anything. Need a new batter? Have fun...).
And then there is the face that if you want ANY kind of app support - not just OS. Facebook, Twitter, etc... - then you can't use old phones. Years old Windows phones. Look at Blackberry phones. Palm OS. No one supports them because well... no one supports them anymore.
I think it's more a function of the rapid change and growth of complexity that makes smartphones obsolete so quick. Screen density, cpu, graphics capabilities, hard drive space, antenna speeds, etc. EVERYTHING is increasing so quick that it's hard to compare a new phone to a 2 year old phone.
It'll most likely be years before it slows down enough that you can treat a smart phone like a PC - keep it for YEARS and expect most stuff to simply run on it.
That's what I expect.
With Android, if you find a beloved phone by many, you will be supported for YEARS. My gTablet was being updated by the community for 4 years after the last official update. My Galaxy Note has nightlies from multiple different projects. My wife's Sony Xperia Arc S has consistent updates still. You find a phone that people fell in love with and you will have your updates until the hardware is dead.
Also, they say 2 years' support. If you look at the phone recycling business, there is 4-5 years life in a franken-handset shipped abroad.
You're right though about carriers. I always buy non-carrier locked devices here in the UK for that precise reason. Nokia sell "country variant" devices which are usually updated first.
1. iPhone 2. Custom Rom and you're on your own.
You can register for the Preview for Developers program [1] and get timely OS updates regardless of the carrier.
With the 8x the lack of updates is an HTC issue tho as far as I know. They look to roll out 8.1 on some of the 8Xs in October [2].
Big jump to this conclusion but I'm more inclined to trust Microsoft at the moment as they have a better reputation for lifetime (unlike Android), have a very public security process and good industry comms and the devices are proven usable if not faster after recent updates (unlike iOS which starts to be terribly limiting performance-wise). Plus they're dirt cheap.