Android updates are increasingly being supported for longer periods of time on brands’ top-end, high-end or upper mid-range devices, but that’s not how things work on lower mid-range and especially entry-level phones. However, Qualcomm aims to change this situation in the entire Android ecosystem.
The manufacturer of the phone’s chipset is of great importance in the distribution of updates. Because the manufacturer still needs to actively support its chip. While the support window for affordable options is predictably short, sometimes the update frequency is not always as frequent as it should be for more expensive processors. Monthly security updates are only regularly provided by a few manufacturers.
That’s where Qualcomm comes in. According to Qualcomm’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Phones, Chris Patrick, the company is working to make it easier for OEMs to keep all of their phones up to date.
“It is very complex for a customer to receive security updates, receive Android version updates, and then deliver them to every end user,” Patrick said in an interview with Android Authority. It’s actually very expensive and very complicated. One of the things we’ve been working on with Google and the OEMs for the last few years is changing the structure of inline code, meaning changing the mechanism of how we do these updates. “You’ll see us make some announcements later this year about some of the changes we’re making to make this easier and to help the entire ecosystem keep Android phones up to date.”
Qualcomm may announce plans for Android updates in October
Patrick said that this has been a major concern for Qualcomm for a while now, and the company plans to announce something to address the issue.
Details about Qualcomm’s plans remain unclear. However, it seems likely that the company will make a comprehensive sharing at the Snapdragon Summit event in October. Of course, this doesn’t mean that everything will magically change for all devices from the next day. But this gives us hope that updates will arrive in a more timely manner for all current devices.