Overlooking updates on Android phones

This topic tackles a particular perk that is often overlooked when we buy a new smartphone.

Hardware features like earphone jacks, screen sizes and types, etc. are the ones we normally look for; with technology fans even looking at the specifications sheet to check the chipset, how much RAM (random access memory) does the phone have, and other details like those.

However, rarely is the question asked, “How long is the phone supported by its manufacturer?”

The question is relevant for phone users who do not want to change phones every year or so. Smartphones using the Android operating system have varying periods of support, depending on the manufacturer. Google, the company behind Android, offers seven years of software upgrades on its Pixel phones. That is on top of how long the phone can still be used after the software updates stop.

Android phones normally have this minimal requirement of software upgrades for two years, with an extra year for security patches. But the requirement was disregarded, with many receiving only one minor update in their life cycles, if they ever received updates.

Anybody still using a phone that has Android 6.0 Marshmallow is still supported as their Google account is still linked to their Marshmallow phone. However, it’s predecessor, 5.0 Lollipop, has been unsupported since last year, making Lollipop phones basically a brick: virtually useless.