Despite the fact that for some time I was quite critical of those who consider updates Android to be the highest blessing, suddenly an insight came to me. I suddenly realized that software support is an extremely valuable aspect that cannot be neglected, especially if you own a smartphone that is above average. After all, you can't just buy the really best device on the market for 100 thousand rubles so that in two years it turns into a worthless pumpkin. Why is this categorical, you ask? Let's figure it out.
You cannot do without updates Android, so two years of support is not enough
This spring, I was going with my family to go to one of the European countries on vacation, arranged a tour and, since there was still a lot of time left before leaving, I even managed to forget about it. But then it suddenly turned out that air traffic with the European Union was stopped due to the coronavirus and there was no chance for us to fly anywhere, so I requested a refund and began to think about where to spend at least some of them. In the end, keeping such an amount in rubles is quite risky, I didn't want to buy dollars with them either, since they could also fall, which means that there was only one way out – to buy a brand new smartphone and preferably a flagship one. The choice fell, oddly enough, on the Galaxy S20 Ultra, but my mood instantly disappeared as soon as I remembered one annoying feature of this device, namely, disgusting support.
Why updates are needed
Previously, I was sure that new functions can be learned from third-party software, and I can take care of my safety myself – all you need is that you do not download any trash from the Internet and do not give privileges to applications from right to left. But now I have changed my mind and am not afraid to admit it.
New features may appear in Android – smartphones for more than two years in a row, given the powerful hardware
To begin with, a high-performance smartphone with a top-end camera and an extensive set of functions should work for a long time. Of course, after the end of support, which will happen in two years, the Galaxy S20 Ultra will not turn off, but will continue to function and will probably even receive updates to proprietary Google services. But this is clearly not enough. A device with such capabilities can be further developed – and this is exactly what it does Apple, which from year to year provides its own new functions iPhone.
Yes, I said that you can simply pump up the necessary software and teach the device new tricks, but, in fairness, I note that no third-party developer will optimize the operation of their applications for a specific device as the manufacturer himself does. As a result, the third-party software will not work as smoothly as the natively inscribed functions, although Samsung could continue to supply the S20 Ultra with new functions in the second, third, and fourth years. To do this, you don't even have to carry out a hardware upgrade, because the smartphone already has a 108-megapixel camera, 16 gigs of RAM and the most powerful mobile processor on the market. Just know – release software updates that will improve the quality of the zoom, expand the possibilities when working with augmented reality, work out new shooting modes like Deep Fusion from Apple and much more.
How to protect Android – smartphone
Security is also not so simple. On the one hand, you can really protect yourself from malicious programs if you carefully monitor what exactly you download and do not give all the privileges that they ask for to installed applications. But, on the other hand, there are really dangerous vulnerabilities that allow you to intercept Internet traffic, establish surveillance, hack Bluetooth and even organize a gateway between a vulnerable device and the attackers' servers, through which all data from its memory is transmitted.
Can this be prevented? Of course yes. But only here there is a small snag: Google only releases patched updates for smartphones less than two years old, while everyone else remains at risk. Even the monthly security patches, which in fact turn out to be not so monthly, do not particularly fix the situation, because the search giant often puts a bug fix only in the current version Android. This means that those devices that are still being updated will receive a fix, while those that are not will not.
How to make Android better
Security and optimization are the key to successful smartphone performance
Well, and, of course, we shouldn't forget about optimization, because security and new features are not everything. Updates keep the operating system up to date and improve its performance. This can be achieved, for example, by replacing the platform file system, as it did in its time Apple. As a result, even the old iPhone 5s and iPhone 6 began to work noticeably faster, launching standard and third-party applications in less time, simply because the file system allows faster processing of commands.
But there is also such an indicator as the delay in music playback. It has nothing to do with the performance of the smartphone and its hardware characteristics, but depends on optimizing codecs and other software settings. It is impossible to achieve low latency without changing the operating system, but due to the fact that the manufacturers Android – smartphones understand that there are only a couple of years left to serve their flagships, they do not even bother about this and pay attention to others, more important, from their point of view, functions. As a result, working for Android with music is out of the question. Unlike iOS.
What does all this mean? I will not buy the Galaxy S20 Ultra, although I was really going to. Still, 2 years of work for 100 thousand rubles is not exactly what I want from a smartphone. During this time, it will not even have time to become outdated properly, but it will already be consigned to oblivion, because new devices will appear on the market for the same money and with the same shelf life. Therefore, I, perhaps, will just buy a new iPhone 11 Pro Max, which – I am sure of this – will serve me for 3-4 years, but even after that it will remain relevant, passing to someone from relatives by inheritance.