opinion

OS Versions: Melted Ice Cream Sandwich

For adult application developers, having an entire customer base on the latest and greatest system is an easy way to deliver innovative features to the broadest audience possible; unfortunately, this is not always possible — especially for Android users that may be the victim of platform fragmentation.

The problem of operating system (OS) fragmentation is a very real issue, that at its core is a matter of having multiple versions of a given platform (in this case, the Android OS), wild in the field at any given time. This situation is not limited to Android, as Microsoft still has legions of devoted fans running its outdated Windows XP OS — passing on the option of upgrading to Windows Vista or Windows 7 — choices that make product support more challenging, while preventing users from enjoying the most current features and security advancements that the operating system has to offer.

The problem of operating system (OS) fragmentation is a very real issue, that at its core is a matter of having multiple versions of a given platform, wild in the field at any given time.

Microsoft, however, has a vigorous auto-updating process in place, which delivers regular updates, along with “service packs” that provide major version-intermediate enhancements, even to those users not ready to adopt the latest OS. Apple has a similar procedure in place.

Android makes no such effort, requiring users to update their systems manually — an update that rarely occurs, as most mobile users retain the OS that came originally installed on their device, and then periodically replace devices, rather than update them. Combine this reality with the relatively rapid pace at which updates to Android hit the market and you end up with a dozen Android OS flavors in the field.

To illustrate the scale of the problem, Motorola offers four flavors of Android in its current lineup — and the reason why provides insights into the equation:

“You may be wondering why all devices aren’t being upgraded to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Here’s the deal,” stated a Motorola blog post. “We work very closely with Google and cell phone carriers for every software update [and] obviously we want the new release to improve our devices.”

“If we determine that can’t be done — well then, we’re not able to upgrade that particular device,” the post concluded.

In other words, the latest OS version is not always an improvement over the previous generation, with differences in hardware capabilities further complicating the issue of features and compatibility for application developers.

For more information on the current state of Android version development and deployment, visit https://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html.

Related:  

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More Articles

opinion

How to Halt Hackers as Fraud Attacks Rise

For hackers, it’s often a game of trial and error. Bad actors will perform enumeration and account testing, repeating the same test on a system to look for vulnerabilities — and if you are not equipped with the proper tools, your merchant account could be the next target.

Cathy Beardsley ·
profile

VerifyMy Seeks to Provide Frictionless Online Safety, Compliance Solutions

Before founding VerifyMy, Ryan Shaw was simply looking for an age verification solution for his previous business. The ones he found, however, were too expensive, too difficult to integrate with, or failed to take into account the needs of either the businesses implementing them or the end users who would be required to interact with them.

Alejandro Freixes ·
opinion

How Adult Website Operators Can Cash in on the 'Interchange' Class Action

The Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement resulted from a landmark antitrust lawsuit involving Visa, Mastercard and several major banks. The case centered around the interchange fees charged to merchants for processing credit and debit card transactions. These fees are set by card networks and are paid by merchants to the banks that issue the cards.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

It's Time to Rock the Vote and Make Your Voice Heard

When I worked to defeat California’s Proposition 60 in 2016, our opposition campaign was outspent nearly 10 to 1. Nevertheless, our community came together and garnered enough support and awareness to defeat that harmful, misguided piece of proposed legislation — by more than a million votes.

Siouxsie Q ·
opinion

Staying Compliant to Avoid the Takedown Shakedown

Dealing with complaints is an everyday part of doing business — and a crucial one, since not dealing with them properly can haunt your business in multiple ways. Card brand regulations require every merchant doing business online to have in place a complaint process for reporting content that may be illegal or that violates the card brand rules.

Cathy Beardsley ·
profile

WIA Profile: Patricia Ucros

Born in Bogota, Colombia, Ucros graduated from college with a degree in education. She spent three years teaching third grade, which she enjoyed a lot, before heeding her father’s advice and moving to South Florida.

Women In Adult ·
opinion

Creating Payment Redundancies to Maximize Payout Uptime

During the global CrowdStrike outage that took place toward the end of July, a flawed software update brought air travel and electronic commerce to a grinding halt worldwide. This dramatically underscores the importance of having a backup plan in place for critical infrastructure.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

The Need for Minimal Friction in Age Verification Technology

In the adult sector, robust age assurance, comprised of age verification and age estimation methods, is critical to ensuring legal compliance with ever-evolving regulations, safeguarding minors from inappropriate content and protecting the privacy of adults wishing to view adult content.

Gavin Worrall ·
opinion

Account-to-Account Payments: The New Banking Disruptor?

So much of our industry relies upon Visa and Mastercard to support consumer payments — and with that reliance comes increased scrutiny by both brands. From a compliance perspective, the bar keeps getting raised until it feels like we end up spending half our time making sure we are compliant rather than growing our business.

Cathy Beardsley ·
profile

WIA Profile: Samantha Beatrice

Beatrice credits the sex positivity of Montreal for ultimately inspiring her to pursue work in adult entertainment. She had many friends working in the industry, from sex workers to production teams, so it felt like a natural fit and offered an opportunity to apply her marketing and social media savvy to support people she truly believes in and wants to see succeed.

Women In Adult ·
Show More