Android fragmentation but on the same phone

[SlCKB0Y]

As an Android user for the past 5 years

The first Android phone was released 4 years ago.

It's your carrier holding back the update, not Google or Samsung.

Pretty simple really, I only buy Nexus products now for this reason and they are usually the best combination of hardware and software anyways.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

http://www.extremetech.com/mobile/108911-is-android-the-most-closed-open-source-project

Did you even read that article?

VisionMobile conducted their research by putting Android up against other open source projects such as Mozilla, Linux, MeeGo, and Eclipse. Using its own market research, the company rated each project on four areas: access, development, derivatives, and community.

How did Android rank? Dead last. In each category the mobile OS scored the lowest, which, in my opinion, does not indicate a lack of openness, but an overstatement of VisionMobile’s self-importance. In reading the infographic, it feels like the whole thing was created to expose Android as an open source sham. As an Android user, I have to take issue with this, specifically because it calls out Android in the areas of access, derivatives, and community.

The author of the article is arguing that Android is very open.

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Jailbreaking is also a one-click solution.
Installing MacOS on my PC is also a one-click solution.

The wait time to jailbreak a new version of iOS is way, way longer than for rooting.

Installing OS X on a PC is not even close to a one click solution. (i've done it at least a dozen times across different hardware).

No need to make stuff up to prove a point.

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I know what open source means. I been working with open source software for over 15 years.

Google needs to learn what Open Source means.

In what way do you work with with open source software?

Pretty sure the only person here who doesn't know what open source software is, is you.

 

[cwwilson]

What I'm a little upset about is that the Note 2 and S3 mini are running jelly bean and my S3 is not. But short of going through the rooting process and installing some dodgy ROM, it looks like the Sprint S3 is the only one that will EVER officially get JB. The Galaxy S4 will be out next year running 4.2 or higher so those of us waiting for Jelly Bean on our S3's might just have to get that phone instead, or a Nexus device.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

and installing some dodgy ROM

What do you mean by this? Why are you characterising them all as "dodgy" when it seems you have never used one before?

 

[flopticalcube]

Straight Talk limits you to 100mb of data a day and 2GB a month. You are kidding right? Thats a plan for a child, not an adult whos online on their phone. Buying the Nexus 4 and taking it to some random carrier sure seems like a lot of settling and doing without and for what? To say you get your updates before everyone else? Doesnt matter how great the phone is if the service sucks. Google needs to get their ****** together and make a phone that runs on CDMA with LTE without carrier interference. As I said, Apple can do it.

The nice thing about unlocked is you just move on to another carrier. It's anything but random. I pay $10 per month unlimited (it truly is, people have been using 10gb+ with no complaints). As far as I am concerned, it's Apple that needs to get its **** together, particularly software wise. I don't want either CDMA or LTE so Google makes the perfect phone for me and I suspect a lot of others as well.

 

[michaeljohn]

The nice thing about unlocked is you just move on to another carrier. It's anything but random. I pay $10 per month unlimited (it truly is, people have been using 10gb+ with no complaints). As far as I am concerned, it's Apple that needs to get its **** together, particularly software wise. I don't want either CDMA or LTE so Google makes the perfect phone for me and I suspect a lot of others as well.

Mind telling us where you are paying $10 a month and getting unlimited data? Apple is on pace to sell more than 50 million iPhone 5 by end of the year. The iPad which also runs that software is selling in huge numbers as well. You want to tell the most profitable company in the world that's on pace to sell more mobile devices in 3 months than their competition will in an entire year combined that they need to get their **** together? LOL

 

[flopticalcube]

Mind telling us where you are paying $10 a month and getting unlimited data?

https://www.speakout7eleven.ca/prepaid-cell-phone-rates

Browsing
For $10 a month*, you get unlimited browsing**. This means you can surf the web, check your Facebook, or if you’re feeling hungry, find the closest 7-Eleven. All right from your phone, 24/7. You can add Unlimited Browsing to you phone from within your SpeakOut online account, or by dialing 611 from your handset and speaking to customer service.

* The $10 fee will be deducted from your airtime balance on a monthly basis. See Phones for data-capable devices.

** To cancel this feature you must call customer service or deactivate the feature from within your online account as it automatically renews each month. If your airtime balance is below $12.00 at the time of renewal, the Unlimited Browsing feature will be removed from your account. To reconnect browsing please contact Customer Service or activate the feature from within your online account.

Rogers footprint. Confirmed speeds of up to 20Mbps down. Luckily on a rooted Android, unlimited browsing is pretty much unlimited data.

 

[michaeljohn]

Well that's great if you live in Canada. In the US something dodgy like a cell phone service run by a convienance store would be a joke. Sure there are things like straight talk and metro out here but call and data quality is awful. Paying for a nice new phone and taking it to a ghetto service is quite laughable

 

[flopticalcube]

Well that's great if you live in Canada. In the US something dodgy like a cell phone service run by a convienance store would be a joke. Sure there are things like straight talk and metro out here but call and data quality is awful. Paying for a nice new phone and taking it to a ghetto service is quite laughable

I think your ego is running ahead of you but whatever. I prefer to save the money. SpeakOut is not "run by a convienance store", they are only the retail front. Ztar Mobile manages the relationships and end-user technical issues but the carrier is ultimately Rogers which resells its airtime to Ztar. Call quality is the same as the Rogers plans which start at $20 (100MB cap) prepaid and $45 (100MB cap) contract. But I understand that you would rather be more concerned about how people judge you by the labels and brands you acquire than by the money you save.

 

[michaeljohn]

I think your ego is running ahead of you but whatever. I prefer to save the money. SpeakOut is not "run by a convienance store", they are only the retail front. Ztar Mobile manages the relationships and end-user technical issues but the carrier is ultimately Rogers which resells its airtime to Ztar. Call quality is the same as the Rogers plans which start at $20 (100MB cap) prepaid and $45 (100MB cap) contract. But I understand that you would rather be more concerned about how people judge you by the labels and brands you acquire than by the money you save.

It's not that at all, it's the fact that you get what you pay for. I have friends and even some family who have those off brand services like boost and metro. The call quality is usually so bad it sounds like they are talking to me from a tunnel. My cousins phone is a joke. I can literally go to and open 3 websites before his phone even opens one on his boost mobile service. Not to mention all the missed calls, dropped calls, no service warnings and all the other things he deals with but hey, he only pays $40 a month! Sorry but I use my phone for my business as well and need real service.

 

[flopticalcube]

It's not that at all, it's the fact that you get what you pay for. I have friends and even some family who have those off brand services like boost and metro. The call quality is usually so bad it sounds like they are talking to me from a tunnel. My cousins phone is a joke. I can literally go to and open 3 websites before his phone even opens one on his boost mobile service. Not to mention all the missed calls, dropped calls, no service warnings and all the other things he deals with but hey, he only pays $40 a month! Sorry but I use my phone for my business as well and need real service.

Sounds like all the complaints I here from all the carriers. I have NEVER had a dropped call with SpeakOut. In the mobile world, you rarely "get what you pay for" as you have really no idea what it is you are paying for.

 

[Oletros]

Well that's great if you live in Canada. In the US something dodgy like a cell phone service run by a convienance store would be a joke. Sure there are things like straight talk and metro out here but call and data quality is awful. Paying for a nice new phone and taking it to a ghetto service is quite laughable

There is a world outside USA and there is a world outside your ego.

 

[michaeljohn]

There is a world outside USA and there is a world outside your ego.

The world outside the USA means nothing to me when it comes to my cell phone and how it performs but thanks

 

[cynics]

Edit

 

[Vetvito]

Straight Talk has awful call quality and limits you to 100mb per day? News to me. I have Simple Mobile and Straight Talk, i haven't ran in to these limitations.

 

[dalbir4444]

https://www.speakout7eleven.ca/prepaid-cell-phone-rates



Rogers footprint. Confirmed speeds of up to 20Mbps down. Luckily on a rooted Android, unlimited browsing is pretty much unlimited data.

I have the same prepaid plan and their services are great.

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Well that's great if you live in Canada. In the US something dodgy like a cell phone service run by a convienance store would be a joke. Sure there are things like straight talk and metro out here but call and data quality is awful. Paying for a nice new phone and taking it to a ghetto service is quite laughable

You should refrain from speaking about things that you have done no research on.

 

[onthecouchagain]

I have the same prepaid plan and their services are great.

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You should refrain from speaking about things that you have done no research on.

Well said, but you're wasting your time with michaeljohn. He has said himself he only cares about his world and will only make judgments based within that narrow margin. Anything outside of that is irrelevant to him, yet he'll still judge everything based on his narrow standard just so he can troll/ask the question "why can't they fit it?" Really no point in answering him.

 

[sviato]

Speaking strictly from a UK perspective, this post is why it makes sense (and saves you money) to not have the subsidised handset on offer by the carrier.

There are some insane savings to be had getting a phone free from subsidy and the plans I used in the example above may have an even cheaper alternative elsewhere. I couldn't begin to guess what options your have in the US this though I do admit.

The issue is that it doesn't work this way in North America. Whether you buy a phone full price or on contract, the monthly fee is still usually the same (i.e. high fees).


@flopticalcube

Is unlimited web browsing even the same thing as unlimited data? I recall there being a distinction between the two, in that web browsing would not be data for apps etc.

Also 20Mb on Rogers network without LTE? That's just a pure lie. My carrier runs on Rogers' network as well and haven't seen speeds near that on HSPA+.


And you guys seem to be missing the OP's point. You're telling him to get a Nexus 4. He's telling you he's on Verizon, and that there is no CDMA Nexus and if there was it's not LTE (Verizon 3G is balls). And then you're telling him to get a Nexus again... are you guys reading the Op's responses?

 

[ChazUK]

The issue is that it doesn't work this way in North America. Whether you buy a phone full price or on contract, the monthly fee is still usually the same (i.e. high fees).

That is a real hard deal.

 

[Oletros]

I only pay 8 euro for 1GB of data. If I make any call I pay it 0.13 eurocent/sec

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

As an Android user for the past 5 years, this has really gone from bad to worse to pathetic now. The final straw that led me to get an iPhone 5 was the JB debacle with the S3 here in the US. For those who dont know, Sprint released the JB update for its Galaxy S3 while those of us with AT&t, Verizon and T Mobile versions got the shaft and have been told sometime in 2013. Seriously, WTF? That would be like Sprint iPhone users getting to update to iOS 6 while AT&T and Verizon customers were told they had to wait a good 3-4 months to update. Pathetic.

I can understand when the international versions get an update and we have to wait longer in the US because we have models with different hardware, but the Sprint version of the S3 is identical to the versions on the other carriers! Where is the explanation from Google or Samsung on why this has happened? Or is it just the fact that the other carriers need more time to add their BS bloatware to the S3, so their customers get left in the dark?

Android is a great OS completely destroyed by things like this that continue to upset its customers and make them choose other options. I now have an iphone 5 with no intentions on ever going back until something is done. The short answer is to buy the Nexus but as a Verizon customer, I can't and I am not interested in the Nexus phone anyways. Shame.

So did a delay of update break your phone? I just don't get the impatient attitude concerning updates for a device you had less than half a year. So what other carriers updated quicker. If it that much of a problem for you, you should just root and install a leaked official JB rom.

 

[jsw]

Where is the explanation from Google or Samsung on why this has happened?

Google and Samsung have nothing to do at all with carrier delays.

Recall that a very few years ago, no one outside of a select few really technical people ever upgraded their phones. The carriers resist it mightily even today. So... buying a carrier-locked phone is going to be an issue for some time to come. The Nexus line and the iPhones are better in this regard.

For you, on Verizon, it does seem like you should go with an iPhone, assuming you don't want to just root and upgrade.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

And as i said, this isnt even a discussion unless you have AT&T or T-Mobile. Verizon and Sprint customers cant even buy a Nexus 4 which is pretty ridiculous. Google really dropped the ball on that. Apple can make their iPhones run on both GSM and CDMA networks with LTE and keep the carriers from adding bloatware, why cant Google?

There is nothing Google can do about the CDMA issue. The carriers have full control over that. It is not an open standard like GSM. GSM follows certian rules. Sprint CDMA will not work on Verizon CDMA. Compared to T-Mobile gsm phone can work on AT&T GSM.

It how the control is done on it. The reason the Nexus 4 does not have LTE for example is because of the carrier issues and carrier control.

Verizon did a lot of damage to the Galaxy Nexus with there control issues.

What they need to do is separate out the radio function from the code and tell the carriers to F off because they are no longer going to touch the stuff the carriers have control over.

Also with Sprint and Verizon you have to build a custom phone for each one. Compared to GSM that works more than just in the US.

Also any one who thinks the iPhone really gets upgrade needs to have their head checked. Apple fragments their own stuff. Tell me why does the iPhone 4 not have Siri or GPS navigation? That is a pure software block nothing more.

 

[michaeljohn]

Also any one who thinks the iPhone really gets upgrade needs to have their head checked. Apple fragments their own stuff. Tell me why does the iPhone 4 not have Siri or GPS navigation? That is a pure software block nothing more.

The iphone 4 is a two year old phone. There are no 2 year old Android phones outside of the Nexus line even running JB, let alone 4.2 There are new phones like the S3 not even 6 months old running an outdated OS thats two versions behind. completely unacceptable.

 

[onthecouchagain]

completely unacceptable.

Yet you're considering the Note II / Droid DNA? I'm not allowed to use the big bad "T' word, but, please, you're not fooling anyone. If you are being honest and are considering the Note II or Droid DNA, then try to be a little less dramatic. This isn't the first time you've said lack of updates/fragmentation is a 100% deal-breaker (do I have to quote that list of you expressing explicitly how much a deal-breaker it is again?). Either it truly is a deal-breaker, in which case your time in the Alternatives is highly suspect, or it isn't a deal-breaker, in which case, stop being a drama queen.

And Apple's fragmentation is in some ways worse. The 4 and 4S are missing the main features of new versions of iOS. iPhone 4S is missing Navigation (main feature of iOS 6). iPhone 4 is missing Nav and SIRI (main feature of iOS 5).