Everything is wrong with Android | Business Insider India

Google's Android operating system is used by more than 2 billion devices worldwide. But after a decade Android has yet to countless problems. Security, privacy, and product support are just some of the reasons why users are turning to Apple's iOS instead. Steve Kovach:

Steve Kovach: Android is the most popular smartphone operating system in the world.

Here is the transcript of the video. It works on more than 80% of all smartphones. That's two billion people who use it a month. But after more than a decade Android is still full of a bunch of fundamental flaws that prevent you from a world clbad experience.

Let's talk about my biggest beef with Android phones, software updates. The makers of Android phones are really bad about keeping your phone up to date with the latest version of Google's Android. There are many reasons for this. When Google creates a new version of Android, it sends it to phone manufacturers who modify it for their own devices. Then you have to go through a lot of tests before sending them to carriers for even more tests. By the time the software update finally reaches your phone months have pbaded and Google usually has a new version of Android from here on. And after about a year or two, phone manufacturers are not very motivated to keep pushing updates on their phones. They are already far behind and you are probably ready for a new device anyway that runs the new version of Android. The result, 94% of smartphones run an outdated version of Android. The exception, Google's Pixel Sown phones get Android updates as soon as they're released. Despite many promises over the years, Google has done nothing to ensure that all of its devices are updated in a timely manner.

Skins and bloatwares are also a huge problem. Android phone manufacturers like to get into the basic version of Android and add different designs for the UI and put their own apps for basic functions like web browsing, email and the calendar. When you open your new Android phone, it means that you have doubled the applications you really need. Two messaging apps, two calendar apps, two web browsers, it's a confusing experience for a lot of people. Meanwhile, their skins are almost always worse than the so-called clean version of Android. It's even worse when carriers involve them. Here in US carriers like adding their own applications and bloatware for the Android operating system and you can not delete these apps. You may be able to hide them but they still live on your phone. All of this leads to a bad experience that can slow overall performance. Compare this to iOS and the iPhone which has a simplified experience on all devices without bloatware.

Then there is the technical support. What do you do when your Android phone goes down or you have a problem with it? It's not as if you could go to the Samsung store or LG store, there is no choice but to get back to your operator. And the carriers do not have the best reputation with regards to the maintenance of your phone. Android can also be a security nightmare because there are so many different versions of Android and phone manufacturers have trouble updating them in a timely manner. If and when a vulnerability is found, it may take forever for you to get the fix to update it. The best example is Stagefright which was a severe vulnerability a few years ago in almost all Android devices. Leading manufacturers have been quick to release bug fixes, but we still do not know if all have been patched. Today, most Android phones can be sheltered from Stagefright, but there is no guarantee that when the next major flaw is discovered, you will get the update right away. .

Finally, there is confidentiality. Android phones run the default Goggle services and Goggle continues to make the most of his money by tracking your personal data and using it to target the ads. Android phones give you very little choice to get around this. The same thing happens if you use Google apps on your iPhone of course, but the fact is that iPhones do not ship with these native apps, you do not have to use them.

None of this means that Android is bad or it sucks. People still love Android and Android still stands out when it comes to notifications and syncing better with your Google services. But after a full decade of Android, these problems should have been resolved by then.

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