Can Android be updated on any device?

ravenperch

Member
Apr 25, 2011
1
0
If Android has the ability to update in the settings menu, can any device be updated or is it forever restricted to the shipped version? If a device is resticted to updating, what determines its ability/compatibility to update(dont tell me its the service providers/carriers- they dont make devices or Android)
 
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gurgle

Super Moderator
Staff member
Aug 6, 2010
1,463
131
The problem which is a core problem that plagued PCs in the early days of DOS, Fragmentation. Each device has its own flavor of the same version Android. And this may be true also for different models of the same brand. Bottom line, Unless there has been a core Android build released by the manufacturer, any version update/upgrade is dependent upon community development and firmware cooks. That means, You may see Honeycomb as a community build for a specific tablet which may never get a factory build of Honeycomb. That also means you may never see any Android version update due to either lack of interest by the community and/or the vendor. It also may be due to proprietary designs inside of the specific device.

Long convoluted answer meaning Yes, Maybe, Likely not, Not likely, NO! It all depends upon the community, the manufacturer, and compatibility/capability of the device.
 

pbrauer

Administrator
Staff member
Sep 24, 2010
3,649
561
i am going to weigh in with my two cents as well, in that there is also the simple issue of hardware. Gurgle's answer is absolutely dead-on when he talks about the early PC days, and there is another issue from then that also is as big a determinant as fragmentation. That is hardware, Moore's law applies to Android too. There simply are things that Froyo, Gingerbread and Honeycomb do that the first sets of processors can't support which limits their upgradability.
 
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