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Android O Is Now Officially Android Oreo (theverge.com)
Android O is now officially going by the name of Android Oreo. The operating system is available today via Google's Android Open Source Project. OTA rollout is expected to arrive first to Pixel and Nexus devices, with builds currently in carrier testing. The Verge reports: The use of an existing brand makes sense for Google here -- there aren't a ton of good "O" dessert foods out there, and Oreos are pretty much as universally beloved as a cookie can be. There's also precedent for the partnership, as Google had previously teamed up with Nestle and Hershey's to call Android 4.4 KitKat.
thats racist!!!!
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
What I want is an Android phone that has as at least as many years as an iPhone. For example, iOS supports back to the iPhone 5s. That is four, soon five generations, back to 2013.
Are there any Android phones still getting updates from that vintage? Unless it is supported by LineageOS, the phone isn't getting updates at any Android OS level, much less the latest.
Of course, an unlockable bootloader is a must as well, so if there is a community willing to build a ROM for it, they can.
These are not world-shattering features here. People actually use their phone past the release date of the next model. Four to five years is not unreasonable, especially for a device that is used that often and can be a pain to upgrade.
But it always pisses me off that it's necessary to do that. Just go with version numbers, people!
Google Android engineer here: In most cases I don't actually know what the numbers are without looking them up. I kind of get the complaint in Debian's case, since the choice of Toy Story character is arbitrary, but both Ubuntu and Android have been going in alphabetical order (though Ubuntu has to wrap, or something, in October), so it's just as easy to tell which release is before or after another as if they were numbered. Internally, we pretty much only use the code names (or letters, before the names are announced).
Actually, Android does have a number sequence that I track closely: API level. The OS version number doesn't mean that much to me.
I do know 8.0, though. I added a feature to Nougat that binds Keystore keys to OS version and security patch level as another layer of defense against rollback attacks (where the attacker pushes a legitimate but old OS that has known vulnerabilities). Keystore is used for disk encryption keys, among other things, so when Keystore keys break, the device doesn't boot. Due to an error in the version number management on internal testing devices (which are used by large numbers of employees as their everyday phones), we had to roll back the version number. I found a workaround, but for a while it looked like we might have to wipe everyone's phones.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
The real problem with Android is how users aren't using the new releases
That would be better phrased as "user's can't get the new releases". It's not the users' fault, it's the vendors' fault that the phone the user buys is a legacy product the minute their payment clears. What's fucked up is the ecosystem, not the users.