skullgiver , 4 hours ago

With new devices now being sold with a set number of Android version upgrades and seven years of support, it’s really not as bad as it used to be. This, and GrapheneOS, is why I’m considering buying a Pixel next: Google has always met their promises when it came to software and security updates, and now those promises seem to actually be getting good.

Also, I must say, I only upgraded the ROM on my device because the Android 13 one stopped receiving updates. Android 14 has added absolutely nothing Android 13 didn’t have, or couldn’t have had. Most of the improvements were in the launcher and in a few Google apps. The last major noticeable Android improvement must’ve been in Android 10 or 11 maybe

Until Google can come up with something new, I don’t really see the point of major Android upgrades. They’re mostly just new skins over the notification UI and a collection of app updates (launcher, dialer, browser, etcetera) released at the same time.

I know things are a lot better under the hood now, but as an end user I wouldn’t be able to distinguish a skinned Android 9 phone from an Android 14 device. One of the two can be hacked remotely by simply having Bluetooth on, that’s the biggest differentiator to me.