Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote

> I've yet to be so lucky for my Android phones. No updates whatsoever
> on my two Huawei phones. My current 3-year old Samsung phone has been
> getting updates sofar (and Android 10->11->12->13). Fingers crossed.

Actually Frank, your Android has been constantly updated, as Android is
unlike the monolithic iOS because Android is updated in many layers.

Google constantly updates hundreds of millions of Androids over the net.
<https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2023/08/latest-artwork-on-hundreds-of-millions-of-devices.html>

Take a peek at the Project Mainline (since renamed) 34 modules Frank.
<https://www.androidpolice.com/project-mainline-android-14/>
"Project Mainline delivers key OS updates through Google Play."

Most of Android is updated over the net without the carrier/OEM involved.

Most people on this newsgroup have absolutely no clue how this works.
They're ignorant because they think Android is a monolith like iOS is.

It's not.
Android is a modern operating system. It's updated in many layers.

Just one of those many layers are the (now 37!) core Android modules.
"Google introduced Project Mainline in Android 10,
modularizing OS components so feature and security updates
could be delivered through Google Play instead of regular
OTA updates. Android 10 launched with 12 supported Mainline
modules, but in the latest release [of Android 14], that number
has ballooned to 37 updatable modules."

Those 37 core modules, Frank - are a huge portion of the Android OS.
And they do NOT have any known EOL & _all_ are donated to the AOSP.

So even if they did have an EOL - the AOSP would/could support them forever
(where we're using forever here to mean nobody knows of any EOL date).

I realize you know nothing about how Android updates, but that's why I'm
explaining it to you - so that you can learn how Android updates itself.

And, like you, my free Android Galaxy A32-5G is still getting updates,
even as it started with Android 10 (or maybe 11) & is now at Android 13.
<https://i.postimg.cc/X7n5YVVs/galaxy-update-upgrade.jpg>

> Other cans of worms: 'Apps' not updated for or/and not running on
> older OSs.

We covered in the Android newsgroup that the Google Play Store "Update
Apps" mechanism only updates a teeny tiny portion of installed apps Frank.
<https://i.postimg.cc/HsXKj7WK/updateallapps01.jpg> Doesn't update all!
<https://i.postimg.cc/4djB69pr/updateallapps02.jpg> Independent of GPS
<https://i.postimg.cc/02xKj04h/updateallapps03.jpg> Only updates SOME!
<https://i.postimg.cc/3xxyCJYB/updateallapps04.jpg> Only updates GOOGLE!
<https://i.postimg.cc/kgBB3mq0/updateallapps05.jpg> Use dedicated updaters

If you want to update all the apps that can be updated, you need to install
one of the third-party app updaters we extensively tested long ago, Frank.

<https://i.postimg.cc/fy8TpHFW/updateallapps06.jpg> Some are really good
<https://i.postimg.cc/pLwVw50j/updateallapps07.jpg> No need for a sign in
<https://i.postimg.cc/BZMzpG4C/updateallapps08.jpg> Works even if disabled
<https://i.postimg.cc/g0jQBKrs/updateallapps09.jpg> GPServices vs GPStore
<https://i.postimg.cc/qqVFqVwD/updateallapps10.jpg> Update different stuff
<https://i.postimg.cc/4ymqRF7n/updateallapps11.jpg> e.g., GPSystem version
--
I read almost every thread and every post to these newsgroups so that I can
better learn how both the primitive iOS and the modern Android run updates.