Android updates, boy do we talk a lot about them. Well, we complain a lot about how they aren’t here fast enough or avoid complaining by telling you to just buy a Nexus device to skip out on having to have those conversations about them not getting here fast enough. It’s a situation that isn’t fun for anyone, including Google, who is reportedly working on a shame list to out manufacturers and carriers who suck at delivering updates in a timely manner.
Is a shame list the solution we all need? Who knows, but it certainly can’t hurt as it would at least be one way for us to have evidence of neglect, which would in turn allow us to better vote with our wallets over who will more than likely meet our need for updates the fastest.
And that whole idea brings me to a list that was sent over to us this afternoon from Verizon, a list that includes all of the 13 devices they have updated to Marshmallow thus far. The list came with notes that mention the number of updates and the phones that received them, but it wasn’t exactly trying to outright brag over how fast those updates arrived or how they are stomping all over AT&T and T-Mobile in the update game. It’s simply a list of phones they have already updated, along with a mention of “more on the way soon.” That’s it.
Here is the list.
1. HTC One M8
2. HTC One M9
3. LG V10
4. LG G4
5. LG G3
6. LG G Pad 8.3
7. Droid Turbo 2
8. Droid Maxx 2
9. Samsung Galaxy S6
10. Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
11. Samsung Galaxy Note 5
12. Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
13. Samsung Galaxy S5
OK, then.
Do we say, “Good job!” Do we look at that list and say, “Yeah, well, took you long enough to get to 13! What about this device and that device and those devices!?!?!?!” I don’t know. I, honestly, do not know what to do with this list.
Android Marshmallow was released right before the start of October last year. We are now hours away from June 1 and Verizon is showing that they have updated the majority of their highest end phones from the past two years to Android 6.0+. Sure, this list is missing the Note 4 and original Turbo, but it seems like they are close to having a pretty complete list. Again, Marshmallow was released 8 months ago.
My reaction seems to want to be, “This certainly looks like Verizon is doing a decent job at getting out major updates.” I also kind of want to say, “Thanks, Verizon, this is nice to see.” Sure, these updates would have been welcomed in January, but I think we all survived. No one was hurt in the process, were they? Everyone’s phones continued to work leading up to the Marshmallow update, right?
And look, I’m not trying to come off as someone who is softening their stance on Android updates and their slowness to rollout. But I do appreciate Verizon acknowledging the fact that people are interested in this info and then going about sharing it. Maybe something as simple as a list like this from carriers and manufacturers could be a step in the direction of holding themselves accountable or at least proving that they are doing something, so that we can all pause the complaining for a minute.
At this point, I’m open to any suggestions for making this update process on Android better, even if that is something as simple as list from Verizon.