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Android updates are getting longer and longer supported on top-end, high-end, or upper-midrange devices, regardless of brand, but much shorter on lower-midrange and especially entry-level smartphones. But Qualcomm wants to do all it can to change that.
Issuing updates depends heavily on the phone’s chipset manufacturer. The company must continue to actively support the SoC, and for most cheaper chipsets the support period ends much sooner than for more expensive ones, which may be expected. Even at higher prices, the frequency of updates is not always adequate; for example, only a handful of brands offer monthly security updates.
That’s where Qualcomm comes in. According to Chris Patrick, Qualcomm’s SVP and general manager of handsets, the company is working to make it easier for OEMs to keep all their phones up to date.
Here’s what Patrick told Android Authority:
It’s very complicated for customers, for OEMs, to get security updates, Android version updates and get them to all of their end users. It’s actually very costly and very complicated. One of the things that we’ve been working on with Google and OEMs over the last couple of years is changing the structure of the inline code, changing how updates happen. We’ll be announcing some of the changes we’ve made later this year to make this easier and keep Android phones up to date across the ecosystem.
Patrick says this has been a big concern for Qualcomm for some time, so the company plans to announce something to address it.
Unfortunately, there are no further details available, so it’s unclear when such an announcement could happen, but given that Qualcomm will be holding its annual Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii this October, that time frame seems the most likely.
Of course, this doesn’t mean things will magically change for all devices starting the next day, but it does give hope that updates will be made available to all devices in a more timely manner.
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