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Motorola Marketed the Moto E 2015 On Promise of Updates, Stops After 219 Days

Posted by Soulskill on from the bait-and-switch dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Over the past few years, Motorola has emerged as one of the best manufacturers for low-to-mid-range Android phones. Unlike many other major manufacturers, they keep their version of Android close to stock in order to keep OS updates flowing more easily. When they began marketing the Moto E 2015, updates were one of the features they trumpeted the loudest. But after the company published a list of devices that will continue to get updates, Android Police found the Moto E to be conspicuously absent. The phone launched on February 25, a mere 219 days ago. According to an official Motorola marketing video from launch day, "...we won't forget about you, and we'll make sure your Moto E stays up to date after you buy it."

9 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. Lenovo... by Kennon · · Score: 4, Informative

    Motorola, brought to you by the same parent company that gave you Superfish and adware injections from the BIOS on fresh Windows OS installs...I'm sorry, are you surprised? You must be new here. :-)

    --
    "All those moments, will be lost in time...like tears in rain..."
  2. Really? by sims+2 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I have a samsung convoy 3 (Not a smart phone) it was released August 29, 2013.
    The last update for it was released on April 2nd, 2015.

    That's 581 days of support if I never get another update.

    Don't mind me I'm just comparing rocks to lolipops.

    --
    Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    1. Re:Really? by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 3, Informative

      My iPhone 5s was released Sept. 20, 2013 and will be receiving updates until at least next Sept.

      I never understood why they segmented the Android market so much. It would have been better for consumers if Google had a core that could be updated from Google and the various phone manufacturers put their custom software on top. There could be some system that would prevent roll-outs until the manufacturer tested any updates to the core on their phones. If they stopped checking then the update would go to the customer directly but with a huge warning about the phone/apps not working. The phone would need a way to restore the previous system easily.

      The whole fragmentation and not knowing when/if updates are coming is preventing me from checking out Android. That, plus all they seem to be pushing is the large phones, like Apple. I know what my handle says but Apple is moving away from their roots. I used to like the iPhone because it was intuitive and easy to use. But with each new "feature" they are making it more difficult to use. Instead of designing to make things easy to use in any situation they are building their apps and phones for certain use cases. I don't fit in their use cases. It didn't matter before. Now it does. And so Apple has gone from what I want to use to being just the best of the bunch.

  3. Fool Me Once, Shame on Me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Moto did this way back with the Moto Droid Devour, an aluminum slideout-keyboard Android unit. They didn't even release enough updates to fix the many bugs it had, let alone an OS update. I swore off Moto devices from that point forward as I'll only be completely abandoned by a manufacturer once. I wouldn't even buy the Nexus 6 even though in theory that should see updates for years.

    To Moto E owners, I'm sorry and I feel your pain, you aren't the first and not the last to be burned by a phone manufacturer when they renege on promises.

  4. UK users can take it back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    in the UK you can return it as electrical goods have a 6year warranty, the stipulation is the fault must of been present when manufactured, not fit for purpose.
    EU users have 2 years.

    http://www.dailymail.co./news/...

  5. Re:Vote with your wallet... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I voted with my wallet. I bought an iphone. 5s - Got it launch day September 20th 2013

    Just over 2 years old. Installed iOS 9.0.2 the other day- Scheduled the install for the middle of the night while I was sleeping.

    Of course, I could have stuck with my 4s... That's still currently supported. Launched early october 2011 - Just under 4 years old and it too can run iOS 9.0.2.

  6. Re: That was then, this is now by melios · · Score: 3, Informative

    As someone who bought the Motorola i1 with Android 1.5 on the promise of updates it never received, I'd have to disagree.

  7. Re:Vote with your wallet... by Samuel+Dravis · · Score: 3, Informative

    Exactly. I've used Nexus devices single the Galaxy Nexus, and I do not understand anyone who does not use the reference device wanting Android updates in a timely manner. If you go with a carrier, expect to be used for profit during the current fiscal year.

  8. Re:That was then, this is now by davester666 · · Score: 3, Informative

    And yet Apple has the longest update policy of all phone manufacturers of any significant volume [there might be one or two outliers that provide updates for longer than Apple does, but they only sell a very small number of phones].

    The iPhone 4S I bought new in 2011, then passed onto my dad, is still supported by iOS 9 [started with iOS 5].

    With Android, you do have a choice of vendors. Roughly equally poor vendors [w.r.t. updating their software].

    --
    Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!