why dont google make the android OS updates like patch's to the old OS so every

[the_love_exorcist]

android mobile will be updated? like when they add the video calling on 2.3.4 why it's not an .apk that upgrade the only thing responsible for that

 

[Ratchetr]

Because backwards compatibility is a bitch. With a capital B.

Every software company has to struggle with this issue. MS has for years, and now Google does. What older versions do you continue to support, and which ones do you drop. The further back you go, the harder it is to test, and the harder it is to introduce new features.

I don't droid, but it sounds to me like Google is saying...we draw a short line in the sand. If yours is too old, sorry....we don't support that anymore. Every software company has to say that at some point. It's just a question of how old is old enough?

 

[mem2]

Different phone manufacturers have different specifications for their phones. Did you ever wonder why an Android 2.3 phone my seem 'snappy' and responsive on one type of phone, but sluggish on another? It is because the phones specifications are different and one manufacturer may push their hardware to the absolute limits to force 2.3 on it, while another may work fine with it. If they make improvements like patches, then someone may try and install a version of Android that is beyond their system's capabilities. So instead, Android will release the updates to the manufacturers. Then the manufactures decided if they want to release the update into their system (often based on how much it would cost to do so and if the phones are capable of doing it).

I only used Android 2.3 as an example because you mentioned it. However the same applies to other versions.