Google and Qualcomm Promise Longer Android Updates

Until now, the weakness of Android compared to iOS is the availability of operating system updates, where most Android phones only get updates 2-3 years after release.

Meanwhile for iOS, as long as the hardware is still supported, Apple will continue to provide OS updates. This is what Google is trying to solve by releasing Project Treble in 2017, and now they are still trying to improve the availability of Android updates.

Google had to collaborate with Qualcomm, and recently they announced that Android phones using Snapdragon chips will receive up to three operating system updates, also making it easier for cellphone makers to provide OS updates.

Especially for phones with Snapdragon 888, Google and Qualcomm promise to have updates for up to four years since the cellphone was released, both Android operating system updates and security patches.

According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 888 is the first chip to support the update in four years. But in the future it will also be supported by the upcoming Qualcomm chip, although it is not clear whether it is only for high-end chips, or also for middle and lower chips such as the Snapdragon 4 and 6 series.

But keep in mind, this collaboration is only between Google and Qualcomm. Meanwhile, the party that played a major role in presenting the update was, of course, the cellphone manufacturer.

This kind of collaboration seems to be needed by Google, because they only develop Android in terms of the operating system, while the matter of hardware is held by companies like Qualcomm, and of course cellphone manufacturers.

Unlike Apple, which worked on everything by themselves, both software and hardware. This gives Apple complete control over the devices they make.