Anything useful in Android 13? (short rant)

[Mike03946]

My Samsung A53 5G just updated to Android 13. So thanks to Samsung for keeping the phone current.

However, I can't find any useful changes in A13. Mainly, it's made all the icons the same color, so apps are harder to tell apart.

Apparently, it also offers more options for getting things the exact color you want. THIS is what people care about?

Has anything found something useful in this revision? Does anyone else wish Google would stop fussing with cosmetics and do something useful? Like, maybe, a way to get newer Android versions onto older phones without rooting them?

 

[olbriar]

I feel your upgrade pain. 13 created a communication problem between my S21 Ultra and my ReSound hearing aids. Knowing that it is a "known" problem by both companies does not fix the problem. I'm sure there are security patches and the like in the upgrade but I'd gladly step back to 12 if given the options.

 

[Milo Williamson]

:blinks rapidly:
Keep this minded when getting my pixel...

 

[jhtalisman]

The icons you speak of are by Samsung and the updated One UI 5.#

It may be based upon Android's material design, but the final product is Samsung.

There are major changes in Android 13, they were listed in the changelog that accompanied the update when you were notified/downloaded it.

 

[svim]

The Arstechnica site always posts a thorough analysis of each version upgrade when Google releases them. Worth reading when you're curious about what's new or altered. 13 is apparently a pretty mild upgrade, especially when compared to the level of changes that were in 12.

Android 13 review: Plans for the future, but not much to offer today

Android 13 is a very small update, but it's also the second one this year.

arstechnica.com

Android 12: The Ars Technica Review

Our yearly deep dive into all the interesting stuff in Google's latest OS.

arstechnica.com

 

[mikedt]

My Samsung A53 5G just updated to Android 13. So thanks to Samsung for keeping the phone current.

However, I can't find any useful changes in A13. Mainly, it's made all the icons the same color, so apps are harder to tell apart.

Apparently, it also offers more options for getting things the exact color you want. THIS is what people care about?

Has anything found something useful in this revision? Does anyone else wish Google would stop fussing with cosmetics and do something useful? Like, maybe, a way to get newer Android versions onto older phones without rooting them?

FWIW when my Samsung Note20 Ultra update to Android 13 late last year, the icons didn't change at all, and are still all different colours and easy to tell apart. See attached screenshot. This is still OneUI, and I haven't changed the launcher from default.
Main things I did notice was some changes in the Gallery and Camera apps.

 

[svim]

....
Main things I did notice was some changes in the Gallery and Camera apps.

Don't forget, not all differences are changed by Google, especially with Samsung devices. Those two apps aren't due to changes to Android 13 itself, they are altered/maintained by Samsung. The Camera app for example is very proprietary in order to take advantage of those Samsung-specific camera modules.

 

[Milo Williamson]

The Arstechnica site always posts a thorough analysis of each version upgrade when Google releases them. Worth reading when you're curious about what's new or altered. 13 is apparently a pretty mild upgrade, especially when compared to the level of changes that were in 12.

Android 13 review: Plans for the future, but not much to offer today

Android 13 is a very small update, but it's also the second one this year.

arstechnica.com

Android 12: The Ars Technica Review

Our yearly deep dive into all the interesting stuff in Google's latest OS.

arstechnica.com

Thanks for the heads up, Hmmm.. My moto pops up Galaxy Pixel 6a yeah.. I am kind of leaning towards that cell.

 

[ocnbrze]

Has anything found something useful in this revision? Does anyone else wish Google would stop fussing with cosmetics and do something useful? Like, maybe, a way to get newer Android versions onto older phones without rooting them?

older phones can't handle newer android os. they are just too robust for older phones to handle. if you can replace and upgrade the chip and mother board, then you might be able to do something. and rooting does not mean you can put any os onto the phone. devs will pull things from the newer android os and place it in their rom. but they usually will use the most current firmware as a starting point. for example the phone maybe upgradeable to android 8, but a dev has put elements of 13 onto the rom. so in essence it is still android 8, but has android 13 elements. android 13 will never work on a phone designed to handle android 8.

as you said this is all due to planned obsolescence. i never plan on keeping my phones for more than 3 years. it is what it is.

 

[Hadron]

older phones can't handle newer android os.

The A53 is a 2022 handset, so I don't think that argument applies here. Though to be honest I'm not convinced it is true as a general rule: I usually take my phones through 3 or 4 major version updates without any actual loss of performance, and it's other factors that drive me to retire them. Of course there are some devices, especially at the lower end, where this isn't possible, but in general I think manufacturers stop supporting them for economic reasons before technical constraints force them to.

As for custom ROMs, what you say is true as far as ROMs based on the manufacturer's software (I've met occasional exceptions, but they are rare). But AOSP-based ROMs can indeed be based on later Android versions; in fact there's an official LineageOS 20 (Android 13) for the Pixel 2 (designed for Android 8, last official release Android 11). Of course it's just the ROM that's updated, not the lower-level firmware, and that will eventually limit the ability to build ROMs based on later versions (how soon can vary a lot between devices). My impression though is that the limiting factor is usually developers moving on.

 

[Hadron]

Has anything found something useful in this revision? Does anyone else wish Google would stop fussing with cosmetics and do something useful? Like, maybe, a way to get newer Android versions onto older phones without rooting them?

As others have said, Android 13 is a relatively modest update (though sometimes changes are "under the hood" rather than features that are easily visible to the user). But also with a Samsung device the cosmetics are entirely Samsung's choice, not Google's.

As for getting newer Android versions onto older phones, unless you have a Pixel that's not something Google control. The way it works is that Google develop and update the base Android code (Android Open Source Project), and the manufacturers adapt that for their devices. This means, at the absolute minimum, integrating it with the particular hardware components and configuration the manufacturer has chosen for their devices, which is why it's the manufacturer's job to do this rather than Google's. In practice most manufacturers further customise the Android OS themselves (and all choose which apps to pre-install), and Samsung are some of the most extreme in this respect. Therefore the choice of when to stop providing updates for any device is also made by the manufacturer: Google literally cannot update a Samsung or Oppo device. Some provide longer update periods than others, and often provide longer update periods for higher-end devices than low-end. But if say Moto only provide 1 major version update for a device there's nothing Google can do about that (OK, they could tell manufacturers that if they wanted to use Android they had to commit to some minimum support period, but is it in Google's interest to do that?). In reality how long a manufacturer supports a device for is largely an economic decision (support costs, but good support is a selling point, so there's a balance), though technical constraints exist too (e.g. if a component manufacturer stops providing updated device drivers phones using that component may be hard to update - I can remember a case a few years back where a high-profile device received fewer updates than expected because of this).

Ironically this means that you sometimes get cases where a manufacturer offers more updates for their devices than Google do for devices of the same age. For example the Galaxy s21 (2021) was released with a promise of 4 major updates from Samsung, while with the Pixel 6 (released later the same year) Google only committed to 3! At present Google and Samsung are offering the longest Android support I can think of, with the Pixel 7 series and many (but not all) recent Samsungs being promised 4 years of OS updates (generally with security updates continuing for a year or so after that). Of course that doesn't mean that they all get the updates at the same time: typically newer devices get them first, though more complex devices may also get them a little later (for example my s21 had A13/One UI 5.1 before the newer Fold 4).

 

[mikedt]

The issue about "it's made all the icons the same color". I've only seen things like that if one is using some custom icon set or theme. And that's definitely not Android 13.

 

[Hadron]

Yeah, A13 One UI Home doesn't do that to home screen or app drawer, and the notifications were monochrome already (have been for years), so I don't know what that comment was about.

 

[Windroid]

Perhaps too much attention is paid to being on the latest Android version, and not enough is paid to security and stability updates. Even my Android 5 tablet is still useful! I use it because it still gets security updates.

In other words: What's the problem if a computer (including a smartphone/tablet) is behind an Android version or two? What do you lose from that? So long as the system is stable and secure, isn't that what counts?

 

[Hadron]

Where do you get security updates for Android 5 from? I'm pretty sure Google stopped support for that a long time ago.

Or do you just mean app updates?

 

[Windroid]

Where do you get security updates for Android 5 from? I'm pretty sure Google stopped support for that a long time ago.

Amazon. My Kindle Fire tablet runs Android 5. Specifically, Amazon's own FireOS distribution of Android.

Edit:

Fire Tablet Device Software Security Updates - Amazon Customer Service

How long will my Amazon Fire tablet get security updates? - Liliputing

How long will my Amazon Fire tablet get security updates?

liliputing.com

 

[svim]

Perhaps too much attention is paid to being on the latest Android version, and not enough is paid to security and stability updates. Even my Android 5 tablet is still useful! I use it because it still gets security updates.
.....

Amazon. My Kindle Fire tablet runs Android 5. Specifically, Amazon's own FireOS distribution of Android.

Referring any Amazon product to be running Android 5 is a bit misleading. Amazon's FireOS is based on a very modified Android kernel but it's also its own different operating system with its own user interface. FireOS version numbering uses its own numbers -- i.e. the latest release, FireOS 8 ,is using a modified Android 12.

 

[Windroid]

Referring any Amazon product to be running Android 5 is a bit misleading. Amazon's FireOS is based on a very modified Android kernel but it's also its own different operating system with its own user interface.

It runs Android apps, it runs the Google Play Store and Google Play services (although you have to install them yourself), it has the standard Android navigation buttons (home screen, back, switch apps) at the bottom of the screen, and it has a home screen like you'd expect on any smartphone/tablet.

Besides, doesn't Samsung have it's own user interface and modifications to the OS and all?

FireOS version numbering uses its own numbers -- i.e. the latest release, FireOS 8 ,is using a modified Android 12.

Correct, but I'm referring to Android version numbers, not FireOS version numbers. That said: FireOS 5 is based on Android 5. The next FireOS, 6, is based on Android 7.

 

[svim]

Nonetheless it is still matter where this adds confusion (and sadly it appears to be intentionally) to any discussion involving which device and which operating system it's actually running.

 

[Windroid]

Nonetheless it is still matter where this adds confusion

What adds confusion?

(and sadly it appears to be intentionally)

Are you accusing me of being intentionally confusing?

Edit: If you're saying that Amazon's being intentionally confusing, then I agree when it comes to version numbers. It really would have been better if Fire OS version numbers matched Android version numbers (e.g. if FireOS 7 were Android 7, FireOS 12 were Android 12, etc.)!

But I think Amazon's doing the right thing by not marketing the Kindle Fire as running Android. When you say "Android": People (outside of China) will expect the Google app store and other Google apps to come pre-installed. While you can install those yourself, it's better for Amazon to just not use the "Android" label.

If you're accusing me of being intentionally confusing: I hardly think that's fair! If you ask me what OS I run on my MacBook: Should I say "the OpenSUSE Distibution of GNU/Linux, running the KDE desktop environment"? Or should I say "Linux"? The same principle applies to Android.