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Verizon really isn't on the ball with its Note 4 updates. When Google released the Android 5.1 source code in March of 2015, the Note 4 was only half a year old and it was still one of the most expensive flagships being sold by the operator. Now sure, Samsung took its sweet time to have Android 5.1 ready for everyone, but by the beginning of August, Sprint had already released it. AT&T followed in October, and T-Mobile at the end of November.
The Galaxy Note 4 and Note Edge both came out a year ago, a time when manufacturers still shipped their devices running Android KitKat. Owners eventually got to experience Lollipop in a later update, and as we've seen from Sprint and AT&T, carriers have started pushing devices up from Android 5.0.1 to 5.1.1. You can now add T-Mobile to that list.
Many of us would consider the Galaxy S6 a significantly prettier phone than prior iterations. It's thin, sleek, shiny, and slippery. Thing is, none of these characteristics are particularly appealing when you're climbing mountains or constructing oil rigs. Most manufacturers would say, "Tough luck, stick it in a case." But Samsung isn't like other smartphone makers. This company cannot turn down the chance to produce another piece of hardware, no matter how slight the change may seem.
Google's monthly security updates are out in the form of factory images, and that means it's time for some new code in AOSP. Since these versions are dedicated to closing security holes, there certainly won't be any new features and the bug fixes probably won't have much effect on battery life or performance, but they will keep the baddies from treating your phone like it runs an old version of Windows.
The Galaxy S5 was sort of an awkward flagship. It wasn't all that different from the S4, which itself wasn't all that different from the S3. Samsung had a bit of an iterative run there before it shook up everything with this year's S6.
AT&T is not known for its rapid updates. The Galaxy S6 only got Android 5.1 on AT&T late last month, several months after it hit other variants. At least Samsung isn't completely ignoring its 2014 devices. The Note 4 and Note Edge on AT&T are getting Android 5.1.1 tomorrow, according to Samsung's website.
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.
The big news of today was, of course, Google's announcement of Android 6.0 / Marshmallow. However, it's still going to be quite a while before we start seeing it widely distributed on devices not called Nexus. Now that we have that out of the way, AT&T's Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 variant can finally say goodbye to KitKat. Following Verizon's release of a similar OTA last week, Samsung and Big Blue have finally released an update for the mammoth-sized tablet, bumping it to Android 5.1.1 / Lollipop.
There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to which carriers release updates for their Android updates first, and once you stray outside of the shallow waters of flagship smartphones, things start to get really inconsistent. For example, AT&T is updating its carrier-specific version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 8.0 to 5.1.1 today, at least according to this support page. But at the same time, Sprint's Galaxy Tab 4 7.0 is only just now getting upgraded from Android 4.4 to 5.0. Huh.
Marshmallow is around the corner, but you know the routine by now. Updates take a while to roll out to some devices. Right now Verizon Wireless is pushing Lollipop to the Galaxy Tab 4 8.0 and Note Pro 12.2.
Since their release, the Verizon versions of Samsung's 2015 flagships (well, the smaller ones anyway) have been given only a couple of minor service updates. That changes today, at least according to the carrier's support site: both the Galaxy S6 and its curvy brother the S6 Edge are getting bumped from Android 5.0, which they've been running since launch, to 5.1.1, the latest official release. The software version is LMY47X.G920VVRU3BOG5 for both phones.
CyanogenMod has changed a lot over the years, but we're still seeing custom ROMs pumped out. The 12.1 release is the latest one to go stable. It offers users the ability to run Android 5.1.1, IMAP idle support, and SDK v1.