Android phones have always had a more convenient approach to new version updates than iOS devices – while iPhones pester you with annoying notifications and update reminders, Android phones rarely let you know that a new update is available.
However, it looks like Google is introducing an Android feature to make updating your device much easier, or more precisely, to make an existing feature mandatory on all Android phones. Mishal Rahman – a big name in the phone software game – writes Esper is a blog post (opens in new tab) It is said that seamless update feature will become mandatory in Android 13.
Continuous Updates is a feature that allows new Android version updates to be downloaded in the background; So your phone doesn’t need to work for ages while it downloads (well, except for a brief moment when it restarts).
The feature was introduced several years ago, but only for certain Android phones (such as Google’s own Pixel), and many Android phone manufacturers have decided to avoid using the feature. However, this is set to change soon.
According to Rahman, Android 13 mandates seamless updates, so any phone maker that creates its own fork of the software (such as Samsung’s One UI or OnePlus’ OxygenOS) must offer convenient background updates. In theory, this means that every new Android phone will come with the feature.
The benefits this will bring will encourage more people to update their Android phones – the fact that the device is not activated when the update downloads results in many handset users not getting the new version of the operating system, meaning they miss out on all the new features and security patches. Bring such updates.
Analysis: iOS could learn a thing or two
So it looks like Android updates are going to be a lot more convenient and if this Android 13 feature works, getting future updates might require very little input on your part.
Apple could really learn something from this and implement a similar approach for iOS; Because upgrading to a new version can be quite annoying.
Device companies want to pester you to update, often promising they’ll do it automatically overnight when your device is plugged into power, but then not delivering. And iOS updates can also take surprisingly long.
Apple needs to follow Google’s suit to make updates easier – sure, the annoyance of making sure people get new iOS versions faster, but there has to be a less annoying way to ensure the best iPhones are kept up to date.
