"2025's been a weird year when it comes to Android upgrades. For ages now, Google's given us each major annual Android upgrade in the latter half of the year - anywhere from late summer to early fall. And device-makers have then sent that software out to their users in the weeks (and, at times, months) that follow. It's been a largely reliable and predictable cadence, at least as far as Google's core initial release is concerned."
"This year, the Android team decided to shake things up considerably. 2025's Android 16 update landed in early June, seemingly with the goal of giving manufacturers more time to build the software into their preholiday device shipments. Our Googley gurus also promised us a second operating system update sometime toward the end of the year, though that turned out to be more of a feature drop than a full-fledged numbered Android version."
"But even so: Having the major annual Android launch of the year land in June instead of September (compared to Android 15 and most other recent releases) is a pretty significant shift. And so I was quite curious to see how it'd affect upgrade delivery timing, particularly when most Android device-makers outside of Google are anything but consistently commendable in that department."
"The answer, it seems, is that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Now that we're six full months past the launch of Android 16, it's time to step back and look at who's making upgrades a priority and who's treating 'em as an afterthought. Only you can decide how much this info matters to you (hint: It oughta matter - a lot! - particularly if you care about business-important areas like privacy and security)."
Android 16 launched in early June 2025, shifting the usual late-summer release cadence to give manufacturers more time to include the update in preholiday device shipments. A promised late-year follow-up functioned more as a feature drop than a full numbered release. Many manufacturers still vary widely in how quickly they distribute Android upgrades, with most non-Google vendors delivering updates inconsistently. Six months after Android 16's release, upgrade rollout patterns still reveal a mix of vendors who prioritize updates and vendors who deprioritize them. Timely post-sales software support affects device privacy and security and should influence purchasing decisions.
Read at Computerworld
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