latest
Dropbox declares end of support for Android 4.4 KitKat and 5 Lollipop
But the app will probably keep working for a long time
It's always admirable when a developer supports older operating systems; but there comes a time of diminishing returns when the effort to keep software working on old versions becomes disproportionately expensive compared to the ever-dwindling number of decrepit devices that still use an app. Such is the situation with Dropbox, which just declared the end of support for Android 5.x and older.
Most applications have long since dropped support for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, since the version is now only used on 0.4% of all Android devices (as of February 2018). Skype dropped support for Android 4.0.3-5.1 in June 2017, with the app now requiring 6.0 Marshmallow or higher. Microsoft is now reversing that switch, by re-adding support for those versions.
You might recall that I reviewed Anker's first portable projector back in August. While it was sold under the company's 'Nebula' sub-brand, the Nebula Mars retained Anker's top-notch build quality and premium design. It certainly had a few problems, like the lack of a Google Play Store, but overall it was a good product.A few weeks ago, AAXA Technologies contacted me, asking if I wanted to try out their P2-A portable projector. Like the Nebula Mars, it runs Android (a newer version, at that), but it's even smaller and less than half the price. I agreed, and not long after, the P2-A arrived at my front door.While I can't say I was expecting much at this price point, as $200 is pretty cheap for a projector, the P2-A has too many shortcomings to make it a worthwhile purchase.
The Blackberry Priv launched last November. While it undeniably has an interesting form factor and shipped with some compelling enterprise-oriented security features, it has remained on Android Lollipop as its flagship competitors received their Marshmallow updates left and right.
Read update
At this point, anyone who really cares about getting speedy Android updates knows to avoid using Verizon if possible, with a few exceptions for flagship devices. Those exceptions don't extend to tablets, even high-end ones. Case in point: the Verizon Sony Xperia Tablet Z2 is now getting its Android 5.1.1 update... a year after the software was released, and more than four months after the release of the latest version, Android 6.0. Such is life.
Sony has been rolling out Android 5.1 updates intermittently ever since last July... up to and past the point where Android 6.0's AOSP code has been available to manufacturers. The last few devices that received bumps to 5.1 were the Xperia C4 and C5 Ultra earlier this month, and today the Xperia M5 gets the same treatment. Users can wait for the over-the-air update alert in the usual manner, or use Sony's PC Companion computer program to download and install the update manually.
We're well past the point where any Android enthusiast would be expecting (or perhaps more accurately hoping) that his or her phone will be getting an update full of Marshmallowy goodness, perhaps delivered by some confectionary fairy. Alas, for owners of the Xperia C4 and Xperia C5 Ultra, it's a bag full of Lollipops instead. Both phones are now being updated by Sony to Android 5.1, a version of the OS which we'll remind you is now almost a year old.
Yu's Cyanogen OS-running Yuphoria phone, sold primarily to the Indian market, has had CyanogenMod 12.1 (Android 5.1) available for almost half a year now. The catch is that it's been available as a CyanogenMod nightly build, requiring end users to flash a custom recovery, then a custom ROM in order to access it. Yesterday, the Cyanogen company and Yu itself announced the over-the-air rollout of the finished, consumer-ready update for the stock software build.
Since the launch of the Moto X, Motorola has been pretty good about releasing timely Android updates... though that's been called into question recently. Apparently at least one variant of the original Moto X (the one from 2013) has been lagging a long way behind as well. The Sprint version of the phone only recently got its over-the-air update to Android 5.1 (the one from February). Before now it had been running Android 4.4.4 (the one from 2014). Ouch.
Oh, Huawei. The Chinese OEM is responsible for one of the latest Nexus devices on the hardware side, but its software acumen is still somewhat lacking. The P8 Lite launched in the US earlier this year running Android 4.4 KitKat, and it's finally getting an update to Android 5.1 Lollipop. The catch (well, one of them) is that it's a manual flash that'll erase all the data on your phone.
It's definitely not getting an Android 6.0 update, but the original Moto X is still getting Android 5.1.1. As is customary (i.e. required), Motorola has posted the kernel source for the update. You can grab it on GitHub if you're the developer sort.
Sony has been pushing out Android 5.1 to its devices over the past several months. Now it's time for Xperia M2 and M2 Aqua to have their moment in the sun. On the day that Google will give us a better look at Android Marshmallow, Sony has announced an over-the-air update bringing both devices up to the latest version of Lollipop.
Read update
While many of us have been living the Lollipop life and looking forward to Marshmallow, life hasn't been so grand for owners of the first generation Moto X on Verizon. They've been languishing on Android 4.4.4 all this time, but it looks like that's finally changing. A soak test for Android 5.1 is starting to roll out, and that could soon mean a general release of Lollipop for this once proud device.
That took quite a while. According to a tip sent from an Android Police reader, that very small sliver of Galaxy S4 owners which opted for the Google Play Edition of the phone (running stock AOSP software) is now receiving the Android 5.1 update. That's the one that first started coming out way back in February, at least to Nexus devices. Yeah, the Google Play Edition program isn't looking quite so hot these days, more's the pity.
The LG G Vista is a big phone that doesn't cost big money. Rather than forking over close to a grand, you're looking at a device that Verizon Wireless will sell you for 0 off-contract. Of course, there's a trade off. A 960x540 resolution doesn't look particularly stellar spread across a 5.7-inch display, for example.
As he tends to do, HTC VP Mo Versi has Tweeted details of a pending update for the M9. This time it's the Verizon version of the device, and it's getting Android 5.1 tomorrow. But it's more than just Android 5.1. This OTA also adds some LTE bands for roaming and patches Stagefright too.
Now that you've heard the new name for Android M, you're probably all excited to hear about how Amazon plans to deliver a customized version of Android Lollipop to its Fire devices later this year. Yeah, around the time regular Android will be making the leap to Marshmallow. The company released a developer preview of Fire OS 5 back in June for the Fire HD 6 and 7. Now it's releasing a version for Fire TV as well.
After pushing out over-the-air updates to Android 5.1 to AT&T and Sprint HTC One M9's here in the US, the manufacturer has now posted the open source kernel files. It has also shared fresh builds for the same phone in Taiwan. You can find them over at the HTC developer center. Downloads come in at over 500MB.
Man, the display on this Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 really makes things look fuzzy. I mean, 1280 by 800 pixels stretched across a 10-inch screen? Gollee!
Motorola published its first kernel based on Android 5.1 earlier this month. That was for the 1st generation Moto G LTE. Now it has published the bits for the 2014 Moto X, codenamed Victara.