Android L: Will Your Device Receive the Update?

We’re all eagerly waiting for Google to release their latest version of Android. Sadly, it isn’t out yet and we don’t have any new information about when it will be released. Either way, let’s talk about which devices will receive the update whenever Google does release it, and what you can do if your smartphone is too old.

With every major release of Android, people generally ask the question, ‘will my device be updated?’. It’s never fun to see your friends and co-workers update their smartphones and brag about all the new features they get while you sit there with old software. As the hardware in our smartphones reaches a plateau, manufacturers will use guaranteed updates as a way to entice you into purchasing a new device every couple of years. Even though the smartphone industry is booming right now, the way software updates are being handled is a thorn in almost everyone’s side.

I find it funny that Microsoft can update Windows XP for 12 years before ending support while we’re seeing a 2-year cycle as the standard in the smartphone industry. I know, I shouldn’t be directly comparing smartphones to PCs, but it shouldn’t be the way it is right now. As competition heats up between the various smartphone manufacturers, properly supporting their hardware could be the deciding factor for which company customers support in the future. I know in the last 7 years, there have been tremendous advancements with mobile hardware, so it’s not fair to compare it directly to PCs. Although, when mobile hardware truly starts to stagnate, I would love to see manufacturers update their devices for 5 or maybe even 10 years before retiring them.

As it is now, if you don’t own a smartphone that’s less than two years old, then you shouldn’t expect to see your device updated to Android L. This can change at the discretion of the manufacturer, but as of right now, it’s not anything you should expect. If you want to stay updated with the latest version of Android and your device is over two years old, then you will need to root your device and install a custom ROM. Sadly though, not every device has community developers willing to dedicate their own time and energy into porting or creating custom ROMs.

Earlier this week, we talked about which devices from the major manufacturers will receive the update. However, there are hundreds of different Android smartphones on the market right now. This is why we say that if your device is more than two years old, you’ll be stuck with your current version of Android unless you install a custom ROM. Thankfully, we see ROMs like CyanogenMod taking up the slack in this department, but they never guarantee to support your device. It’s one of those things that you should be thankful for if it happens, but you should never expect it.

The chance of your smartphone receiving a version of CyanogenMod all depends on the hacker/developer support that it’s received. There are two things that need to happen in order to get developer support for your device. The first thing that’s needed is the ability to gain root access. Lots of times, you’ll see bounty threads over on XDA where the community pledges to donate some money if the device is rooted. When a hacker gains root access, they give their PayPal or Bitcoin account so those funds can be sent. Sadly though, we rarely see the full amount actually given to the hacker. I’ve heard that the person who collects the bounty will generally see 10% to 25% of the total bounty amount after the root method is released.

The second thing that needs to happen is the bootloader needs to be unlocked. This is another hack that needs to take place and we generally see a separate bounty thread created for this too. What this does is it allows a developer to create or port a custom recovery for the device. With a custom recovery, you can create ‘nandroid backups’. A nandroid backup is essentially a complete backup of all the available partitions on your smartphone. With this in place, the custom ROM developers can safely experiment and develop the custom ROM without worrying about breaking the device. If something goes wrong, they can simply restore from the backup and then continue tinkering with the device.

This is a lot of work and that’s generally why we don’t see community development with devices that are heavily locked down. It just takes too much time and since there is no guarantee of payment, it’s simply not worth it for most hackers. This is why we see such a massive amount of community developer support for devices like the Nexus line, but not so much for the other locked down devices. This all depends on the popularity of the device though. Since Samsung devices sell by the millions, we’ll see more support for those devices than we will for others. Unless there’s a major change with how the industry works, the customers who spend upwards of $750 (or more) on their smartphones will continue this game of cat and mouse.