Latest Android version

goodValue

An online search showed that the latest version is 12.

But when I look on my phone it says version 10.
When I look under System Updates, it says   Your software is up to date  (version 10).

Is this because different models use different versions of Android.
My phone is a Motorola Power 7.

Grumpy_chap

Yes.
My Moto G7 Power is on Android 10.  The phones do not just go up to the next version indefinitely.  I suspect, if they did, the OS would become too big and take too much resource for the phone to really work in a satisfactory way with the latest OS version.

matelodave

Manufacturers decide when and if their phones will be updated and as Grumpy says, in a lot of cases it will depend on the capacity of the phone to be upgraded. Likewise, they have to do a lot of testing to ensure that phones dont get bricked when an upgrade is applied, so they will only do it on a fairly limited range of newer phones.

You will also find that it can depend on who you bought your phone from - some mobile operators have their own version that's been tweaked and they may not bother with upgrades

Here is Motorola's schedule of phones to which they are proposing to apply Android 12 starting in February 2022
https://www.androidauthority.com/motorola-android-12-update-3078990/

My Moto G31 which currently runs Android 11 is on the list but the upgrade hasn't been applied yet

flaneurs_lobster

goodValue said:

An online search showed that the latest version is 12.

Actually the latest version of Android is 13. Android 14 is expected to start rollout later in 2023.

400ixl

Android 13 is the latest version of Android released with 14 coming in October time.

What you see is the status of the provider update path, in that you are on the latest version as pushed out by the manufacturer, not the latest version of Android itself.

For most phones the base Android is from the AOSP (Android Open Source Programme) which Google share out to the world under license. The phone manufacturers take this and create their own flavour (their own skin over the top).

There are two levels of update, one being the full upgrade of version, and the second being security updates within that full version.

Many phones especially budget ones will only get 1-2 new Android releases before being abandoned by the manufacturer. Some will still get the security updates for that version of Android for a while longer.

How quickly that update comes depends on the manufacturer again. Some update quite quickly (Google Pixels on the day of release for multiple versions), Samsung a few weeks / months later for the premium phones and up to a year later for some of the budget. Motorola tend to be one of the slower ones to appear and also some of the shorter lifecycles.

It looks like the Motorola G7 Power will not be getting Android 11 and from what I can stopped getting security updates in April 2022. It was released in 2019 with Android 9 and has as such had 1 updates which as I say is sometimes how many the manufacturer supports. 

https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/136717/~/check-for-software-update---moto-g7-power

Pretty poor really to only get 3 years of security updates and 1 major release. It is now unsupported and insecure with any posts April 2022 unpatched vulnerabilities exploitable.

Current Google Pixel phones are guaranteed 3 years of OS updates and 5 years of security updates which is reasonable (and they are working to make it more than 3 years of OS updates), Apple is currently around 6 years of OS and security updates which is even better. Samsung are similar to Google for their premium handsets and some of their budget ones are going that way as well.

molerat

My Moto G10 was released in Feb 21 and purchased in Jun 21.  It came with Android 10 but updated to Android 11 on startup updates and that is all it will get.  It is still getting security updates though.

Grumpy_chap

400ixl said:

It looks like the Motorola G7 Power will not be getting Android 11 and from what I can stopped getting security updates in April 2022. It was released in 2019 with Android 9 and has as such had 1 updates which as I say is sometimes how many the manufacturer supports. 

https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/136717/~/check-for-software-update---moto-g7-power

Pretty poor really to only get 3 years of security updates and 1 major release.

Is it really that poor?

I purchased my phone for £160 in November 2019.  A week later, the price had dropped to £120 IIRC
My phone is still going strong.

The alternative would have been to buy the current version at the time of the Samsung Galaxy S, which would have been several £££ more.

I suppose, security updates should be continued, but these things are all down to cost versus time.  Many people treat mobile devices as disposable and have a new one every 24-months when the contract renewal comes around.  On that basis, the 2019 phone supported until 2022 was beyond the "lifetime" of the phone in any case.

400ixl

Fewer and fewer people are on 2 year cycles these days. The average was reaching 3 years and expected to be over that this year as the technology has matured.

It is also the cheaper range of phones which are at the longer end of the length of ownership, compounding the issue as they are the ones that typically have shorted support durations.

The risk vector of unsupported phones is continuing to increase and more people are doing things like financial or social media transactions on them.

Your phone may be going strong as in it is working, but is it still up to date with security updates?

Grumpy_chap

400ixl said:

Your phone may be going strong as in it is working, but is it still up to date with security updates?

Not from what you advised a couple of posts up thread.

I am at longer length of ownership and lower cost unit.  I am not sure how great the risk profile is as I call, text, browse the web and that's about it.  I can't do anything financial on the phone down to lack of knowledge and trust.

Before, the Samsung Galaxy S series would only last 2 years.  I had the 2 and then the 4.  They got too expensive.

MikeJXE

Thats the beauty of Android 

Apple newest upgrade still supports the iPhone 8 introduced 2017 

Critical up days go back further

Thats why on my iPhone 12 I am quite happy to do everything online including banking

goodValue

This has been a bit of an eye-opener for me.
Previously, I thought the life of a modern mobile was down to the life of the battery, as I was told on purchase that I could not replace it myself.
At that time my thought was that this was a profiteering exercise. But now, I suppose it could be a cost-cutting exercise, just as described for the OS and security upgrades.
I don't fancy having to fork out £160 every two years, just to be 100% sure that the phone wasn't at risk.
What would be the best strategy for having a long life phone that is secure?