Android KitKat released

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Faterson

...it's not a standard, Google-recommended procedure anyway.

Sorry, but this is pure nonsense. Why do you think Google offer the factory images then? This the Google way for those who don't want to wait for the OTA, the tools (ADB, fastboot, ...) are provided by Google as part of the SDK so yes, this is a Google approved procedure.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Faterson

I've simply been reacting to posts made by you and afv011...

Which in turn were replies to your complaints offering you alternatives so you don't have to wait. If you don't want to update manually, that's fine, but as said by others, please don't go repeating yourself and whining that your device did not receive the OTA yet, the distribution is spread over several days and your device will eventually get its turn.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by afv011

yes, this is a Google approved procedure.

I would draw a distinction between Google-approved (or Google-non-condemned) and Google-recommended procedures. If you can post a link to where Google recommends to users to upgrade their Android OS manually if they don't wish to wait for an OTA upgrade, please post the link here; I'll be happy to take a look. As I said, I've had my share of suffering with the XDA developers crowd and such; my life flows by too fast to ever delve in those types of activities again; so (for example) just because a factory image was made available by Google, this does not indicate to me that Google recommends for users in general to upgrade their Android OS that way. Like tompe mentioned, it may not always go 100% smoothly. If you post a link to an official Google statement that says otherwise, I'll be happy to take a look.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Faterson

I would draw a distinction between Google-approved (or Google-non-condemned) and Google-recommended procedures. If you can post a link to where Google recommends to users to upgrade their Android OS manually if they don't wish to wait for an OTA upgrade, please post the link here; I'll be happy to take a look. As I said, I've had my share of suffering with the XDA developers crowd and such; my life flows by too fast to ever delve in those types of activities again; so (for example) just because a factory image was made available by Google, this does not indicate to me that Google recommends for users in general to upgrade their Android OS that way. Like tompe mentioned, it may not always go 100% smoothly. If you post a link to an official Google statement that says otherwise, I'll be happy to take a look.

Google's instructions for factory images are here.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Faterson

I must say, even though iOS 7 is awful compared to the most recent Android releases, Apple manages the distribution of their OS updates a lot better than Google.

That's funny. How soon we forget... people were up in arms because their iOS7 download would take many hours to complete, or would fail half way through. Apple do not stage their downloads, and the result is that their servers are hit hard on release day and it causes problems for many people. Google, on the other hand, stages the update so the servers can cope. There's really no pleasing everybody, either you don't stage and your servers take a hit and people complain, or you stage your update and people complain if their device is not at the front of the queue.

[Faterson]

Originally Posted by afv011

Google's instructions for factory images are here.

Right, but that's the Google Developers site, implying the files offered there are meant for use by developers. I'm no developer. And look at the arcane language used on that page: "Your device needs to be in fastboot mode, with the bootloader unlocked." Not quite the stuff for Grandma, eh? And things can go wrong, or at the very least inconvenient: "Note that this operation deletes all user data by default." I'm too busy for all that.

As to alleged problems with downloading iOS 7, I can't confirm them for any of my iDevices. Nor for previous iOS generations. If anything, people are complaining (and rightly so) that iOS 7 gets downloaded to their devices too fast, even if they do not wish to receive it. The download pretty much proceeds in background, anyway, so whether it takes 15 minutes or 15 hours would not matter to me, as long as the download was at least active. So, nope, I'm not buying that excuse -- iOS 7 distribution by and large works smoothly and super-fast, whereas it seems to be an excruciating process with Android 4.4.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Faterson

... iOS 7 ... download pretty much proceeds in background, anyway, so whether it takes 15 minutes or 15 hours would not matter to me, as long as the download was at least active. So, nope, I'm not buying that excuse -- iOS 7 distribution by and large works smoothly and super-fast, whereas it seems to be an excruciating process with Android 4.4.

Sorry, how does the iOS background download differ from the Android one? They are exactly the same, the OS checks for an update and downloads it in the background and, when the download is complete, the user is notified and can go ahead and apply the update, there are zero differences in the download process itself. The difference, as I have already stated several times, is that Google decided to stage the download over several days to load-balance their servers, but the process is exactly the same.

[Faterson]

The difference is that I was able to initiate the download of the admittedly awful iOS 7 on day 1 it was released, and it was downloaded and installed within 30-40 minutes or so on both iPad and iPhone. If I could at least start the download process on my Nexus 7, no matter how slow, and at least observe the progress of the download, I'd say nothing at all. I would have expected Google to wield more server power than Apple, but I guess not.

By the way, if you call 17+ days "several days", that's a hefty understatement.

[frahse]

Slightly aside.

I wish the new Moto X for Republic wireless had KitKat.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by frahse

Slightly aside.

I wish the new Moto X for Republic wireless had KitKat.

It should get it early next year. Now that Moto are Google owned and dropped their MotoBlur skin and offer a more pure Android experience it should be simpler and faster for them to update their software.

Moto have a steep ladder to climb, but they're doing the right things, especially with their Moto G - at $179/$199 unlocked, it should be a run away hit for Moto, especially in developing markets.

[Faterson]

Yes, I thought Nexus 5 would be hard to beat in terms of value, but Moto G does it.

As to the so-called "developing markets", I'm not so sure. Have you ever visited Chinese knock-off websites like dx.com? They consistently offer Android devices with even better value propositions than Nexus 5 or Moto G, if you're not afraid to put your trust into a knock-off manufacturer. Many folks in "developing markets" have no other choice, because they simply lack the money for more expensive devices. I read that in China, only about 8% of Android apps are installed via Google's Play Store. Go figure...

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Faterson

By the way, if you call 17+ days "several days", that's a hefty understatement.

You are mistaken. The OTA went live on Nov 13 - you can't compare to the date the Nexus 5 was released, so it's been 4 days as I type this.

[Faterson]

Sorry, this thread and KitKat were both launched on November 1st. Day 18 now. It's part of the Android story when compared to iOS. Apple doesn't selectively release new iOS versions for the newest devices first, but all eligible devices get it simultaneously on day 1.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Faterson

... KitKat were both launched on November 1st.

Announced, not launched.

[Faterson]

KitKat was both announced and launched on Nexus 5 on 1st November.