Main Reasons why Your Android Phone is not getting an Update

Many of our readers keep asking this question, one of the most frequent being “Why is my Samsung Galaxy Y/S2/nexus/R/.....  not getting an ICS upgrade” etc. but most of the users don’t actually know which version is the best for their device, or which version is actually available for the device. Nevertheless, its always good to see that Android users do have a better knowledge of the updating and keeping the phones updated and secure, unlike the iOS ones who first have to think many times before updating, as the phone is at risk of getting locked if they had previously unlocked it. Not all the brands of Android phones provide timely updates for the devices, and there are several reasons for the same.

There are hundreds of Android devices, and hundreds of thousands of users of each of them, but the update availability is always a question. No, the companies cannot be called backward or bad for not sending the updates, as there are multiple reasons behind that. Here are a few reasons that we can give, nothing officially from the companies:

Apps incompatible to the newer version of the OS:

Lagging behind an OS manufacturer, and in this case Google, is what keeps delaying the OS updates because the official OS is out but there isn’t the same pace that the companies see from the App developers in updating their apps and making them compatible for the latest operating system. Would the users be happy to flaunt the new OS version and brag saying that they have the latest OS, when the actual apps don’t work at all?

Some of the big app developer companies don’t update the applications on time, and this makes the mobile companies to stop themselves from sending the update of the OS version. A very famous app named BBC iPlayer is still able to run only on devices which are Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS and less, but won’t be able to function on the Android 4.0 ICS, the version which users are craving to get for their phones. This explains it very simply why the companies would wait till most of the actively used apps are updated to work on all the available OS versions.

Unnecessary huge expectation brings out nothing:

I would bring out two names here – Apple and Samsung. Apple users always regret using the same phone and would want an upgraded phone which comes with the upgraded iOS too. Samsung does the same, but users who are using the Galaxy S would want to have the same OS version and stuff that the Galaxy S II has, and if at all Samsung tries to provide a similar OS version just to satisfy the users, it won’t get the similar praise because the end user would some day come to a conclusion that the OS version isn’t the one they wanted, and believe me, there are thousands of users who keep searching “How to downgrade my Android Phone OS version”. Do I need to explain more? You expect a lot from the newer version of the OS in the same device that you have held in the hands since a long time. It’s time you upgrade your phone when you think of upgrading your device OS version.

Limited Hardware support for high-end needs:

This is one thing that many users won’t be able to understand but this could be many a times a major reason for the unavailability of the newer version of the OS for an Android phone. The answer actually is two way: Benefit for the companies, and benefit for the users.
Benefit for the companies: For many devices, companies falsely claim that the phone cannot run a higher version of the OS and the users blindly have to accept that as they aren’t sure what all the phone has packed in. This brings in more sales for the company, with the fanboys and users purchasing better phones.
Benefit for the users: Trying and risking is not wrong, as there are many unofficial ROMs available for the phones but if the device gives up and if really the given hardware for the phone couldn’t support the installed OS, then you might end up with nothing. Companies are instead saving you from damaging your device.

Do you really need to latest version? for what?

It’s true and many would agree that people would want the update only because someone else or the other device users are getting it and bragging about it. Does every user know what all comes in the new OS version? this is the case with ICS. People started saying “Wow, ICS is coming soon”, but we have even seen readers who asked with innocence.. “Can someone tell me what is ICS?” and later the same readers without much knowledge would come and ask for the process to update to ICS.

Do make sure that you have a device which might be working well and won’t make you feel frustrated and regret after updating it.