Qualcomm and Google pledge to clean up the Android update situation with four years of updates

guest · Dec 16, 2020

Qualcomm and Google pledge to clean up the Android update situation with four years of updates
Android is hopefully going to see faster updates and for much longer
December 16, 2020
https://www.androidcentral.com/qual...e-make-android-updates-better-4-years-updates

In a nutshell, Project Treble separates Android into different parts, which is supposed to make it easier for Android OEMs to update what they need and push them out quicker.

It was a bit of a slow uptake, but OEMs have managed to speed up the pace at which major updates are pushed out to devices, especially with Android 10. And while the update situation for Android is much improved, Qualcomm and Google have announced a partnership to expand Project Treble that should make the Android update process even better.
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The new partnership between Google and Qualcomm brings enhancements to Project Treble that will make it easier for OEMs to build their own OS implementations on top of the Android framework.

Because of the way updates are going to be handled now, Google and Qualcomm are confident in their ability to "support four Android OS versions and four years of security updates" across devices running Qualcomm's new Snapdragon chips. It's important to note the wording though, as "four Android OS versions" does not necessarily mean four years of major updates.
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The upcoming Snapdragon 888 will be the first chipset to support the newest enhancements to Project Treble, and so with Android 11, that will count as the first OS version. Qualcomm's PR rep clarified this matter, saying that "Qualcomm will support the launch version + 3 OS upgrades, for a total of 4 major Android OS versions.
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guest · Dec 16, 2020

Google and Qualcomm Will Provide Support for Four Years of Android Updates (Updated)
December 16, 2020
https://www.droid-life.com/2020/12/...-four-years-of-android-updates-going-forward/

UPDATE: We have a bit of a clarification that Ars Technica’s Ron Amadeo pulled out of Qualcomm. Qualcomm and Google are committing to supporting 4 Android versions, so that includes the launch version of Android. In other words, the Snapdragon 888 will see support for Android 11 (launch version), followed by Android 12, 13, and 14. The four years of security updates are still there.
In a way, you are getting 3 years of OS updates and 4 years of security. The only new thing there for something like a Pixel phone or Samsung high-end phone is the extra year of security updates.

In a second Tweet, Amadeo noted that Qualcomm confirmed its plan to expand this support for lower-tier chipsets as well. That’s a pretty big deal, possibly bigger than the Snapdragon 888 support, since high-end chips have almost always seen pretty long support.
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"Qualcomm will support the launch version + 3 OS upgrades, for a total of 4 major Android OS versions. Snapdragon 888 will support Android 11, 12, 13, and 14. "
So three years of major OS updates, and four years of security updates.
— Ron Amadeo (@RonAmadeo) December 16, 2020

"The plan is to roll this out to all Snapdragon chipsets, including lower-tier ones, but starting the new Snapdragon 888 platform."
That's a bigger deal than flagships, IMO. https://t.co/GyGAURf69A
— Ron Amadeo (@RonAmadeo) December 16, 2020
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I’d imagine you would feel much better about paying $1,000 for a phone in 2021 if the companies involved with it told you to expect updates through 2025.
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roger_m · Dec 17, 2020

I would never pay anywhere close to $1,000 for a phone, no matter who long it would receive updates for.

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Qualcomm and Google pledge to clean up the Android update situation with four years of updates

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