Comment · Wed, March 27, 2013
'Stop the bullshit' says T-Mobile CEO
What they were answering
DangJuice · 1 points
It sounds like you are misinformed with how Android is updated. To sum it up, Google releases the update, the manufacturers receive it and must tweak it (to work with hardware) + add their own value-added apps (TouchWiz, Sense, etc), and then the update is sent out to the phones. When you have a carrier-branded phone, the update is tweaked again to work with the specific hardware of that carrier phone. After the optimizing it for your carrier phone, it will get sent to the carriers where they will add their own value-added apps aka bloatware (MyTmobile, MyATT, etc) and then it needs to be tested and approved to work on their networks.
It does not matter if you are updating through OTA or Samsung Kies, you still have to wait months to get the next update. Meanwhile, the international phones did not need to be tweaked again for the next update. They are already sitting on the latest update while you are waiting (for months) for the carriers to update your phone.
I would rather pay for the international version for the faster updates, no bloatware, and no ugly carrier branding (see Verizon's Note II for the worst offender of this).
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb
Sure, I get it. I know I'll have to wait longer for the updates. T-Mobile usually takes a while too. I don't really mind it. I used to, when the Android versions were coming out with new features and getting smoother. Now I am pretty happy with 4.1.2, and don't see myself constantly waiting for the latest update. Not to mention, can the international version use HSPA+ and LTE at the same time? Most networks are either or. T-Mobile is the exception to that now. Not all markets have LTE yet, so it has to switch back and forth seamlessly.
Verizon has always been the branding and bloatware king. Mine just has a T-Mobile logo on the back cover. Again, I don't really mind it. I could root the phone and take off the apps, but I just disable them through Android. I guess I've just gotten more easy going about my phone. As long as everything is working smoothly, I don't mind waiting a little longer for updates.