eReader running Android Marshmallow or Nougat?

[pata]

Is there a reason why so many are still running on Android 4.x?

[Pajamaman]

Higher versions require more power. Also Onyx appear to have had trouble getting even 4.4 to work. However, they're new (big?) ereaders will use 6.0.

[Dopedangel]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Higher versions require more power. Also Onyx appear to have had trouble getting even 4.4 to work. However, they're new (big?) ereaders will use 6.0.

The latest version of android i.e O streamlined OS variant for low-spec devices I think that would be perfect for android based e ink readers. But probably will take 5 years before boyue etc adopt it.

[DavidTC]

So is there any progress on this? I'm looking into buying something to replace my InkBOOK, and it seems idiotic that the next version of the hardware is still running Android 4.2.

And I do not understand why I can apparently buy the larger screen devices with a newer Android version, but not the 6 inch ones.

And the 'battery life' excuse is nonsense. I mean, I've heard that too, but newer Android versions are actually better at battery life, not worse! 6 introduced Doze mode, and 7 made it better.

[Dopedangel]

Originally Posted by DavidTC

So is there any progress on this? I'm looking into buying something to replace my InkBOOK, and it seems idiotic that the next version of the hardware is still running Android 4.2.

And I do not understand why I can apparently buy the larger screen devices with a newer Android version, but not the 6 inch ones.

And the 'battery life' excuse is nonsense. I mean, I've heard that too, but newer Android versions are actually better at battery life, not worse! 6 introduced Doze mode, and 7 made it better.

I know most people blame the manufacturers but I realised after looking deeper into this that its not usually the oem's fault entirely as they are hamstrung by the part manufacturers most times.
One of the reasons I am hoping that e-readers start adopting android 8 or higher as with android 8 and above android has been tweaked that it will be easier for oem to to update android without needing to update the drivers for different parts.

[pata]

Yotaphone 3 is running Nougat.

[fernsruben]

The problem with Boyue providing the latest Android version lies with chipset makers. Rockchip and other e-reader chipset manufacturers are not optimized for complex coding that the latest Android versions possess. Also, the kernel sources of these chips are not easily provided and a lot of compatibility issues exist. One reason why the kindle is still struggling to go beyond their 'experimental browser' into a decent one, that too on basic linux.

[plusz]

Each Android version has a recommended hardware (SoC) feature set requirements. Some features may be very easy to emulate on the kernel layer but others may require some Android changes - I guess that no manufacturer is interested in this effort so old SoC stay with old Android.

[Ghod]

Personally, I don't believe that the hardware is really the issue at all. I'm running Nougat on my ancient Nook HD+, and it runs smoothly, with no problems at all. Is it possible that a device as old as it is just happens to have hardware that's more compatible with newer Android versions? Does anyone know why Nougat can be run well on my HD+, but not on other, newer devices?

[pata]

Android Oreo includes explicit support for low spec devices. There is no excuse anymore. It's not just that old eink Android devices don't receive the updates but newly released eReaders devices are still running old versions of Android. There is something rotten with Boyue et al