Google's Nougat update for Android users is sweet but pointless

Every year, Google comes out with a new version of Android, and as it has been a tradition since 2009, this version is named after a sweet. This year it is called Android Nougat.

Well, as sweet as the name sounds, it is also heartbreak for thousands of Indian Android users who were clamouring for Neyyappam or Nan Khatai.

But that is not the only heartbreak these users are going to face. Nougat is an update that most won't even get.

The problem is age old, or rather as old as Android. The world of Android, with thousands of phones in play and tens of companies in fray, is complex.

In most cases pushing out big Android updates is neither feasible for companies nor possible.

The whole system works in a fairly laborious way. Google makes the core Android software, which it tests out on Nexus phones.

Once this testing is done, it is released to users who have the supported Nexus phones. This year too, it will happen.

The Nougat will reach the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P in the coming months. It will also reach some of the new Moto phones like the Moto G4 Plus because Motorola, which makes these phones, uses almost the same software that Google releases for Nexus phones.

But for every other phone there is no guarantee and even if the Nougat reaches it, there will be delay.

The phone companies don't like to use the same Android that Google makes. They modify it, add some stuff to it, and delete some of its parts. These companies do it to ascertain that they control their phone and not Google.

Every year when Google releases a new version of Android, the phone companies take and start modifying it. Some of it is needed because the hardware in each phone is different. But a lot of it is to "tweak" Android.

Doing this tweaking to each and every phone that ought to be supported is so difficult that even a big company like Samsung can't do it. So, only a select Samsung phones will get the Nougat update, and that too with considerable delay.

Other companies, however, are even worse. Many of the smaller companies like Micromax or for that matter even Xiaomi and all don't even bother with creating big updates for the existing phones. They just come out with new phones with new software.

Moral of the story: Nougat is sweet Android update but don't wait for it to arrive on your existing phone.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)