It’s a common situation with Android, and users who buy devices running the operating system have learned to accept the fact and to live with it. But it’s still a bit disappointing when it happens that a device does not get any future Android updates after a certain point because it was excluded from the main update line. And now, those who’ve bought the Samsung Galaxy S4 are wondering if they are soon going to join the ranks of people prevented from trying out the latest Android version.
There have been rumors that the device is not going to get the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow update, and even though this hasn’t been confirmed officially yet, it looks like a very plausible rumor and most people are already treating it as truth. It would make some sense too, considering that the device isn’t exactly new and it may not support all features of Android 6.0 properly, but it would still be a bit of a disappointment to those who have the phone and were hoping to see how much Android has improved recently.
The information came from a leak showing a list of devices that are going to get Marshmallow, covering models from many manufacturers, including Samsung – but the Galaxy S4 was not on that list. This isn’t a direct confirmation that the device isn’t going to get the update, sure – but it’s still a pretty strong sign and many people have taken it at face value.
According to some speculations, it could simply mean that the device is not going to get the standard version of Android 6.0, but there could be a special alternative update designed for older hardware that’s coming separately. That wouldn’t be so strange in light of how Android works and how it’s distributed to its users in general, and Google might really be planning something that will allow more of their users to check out the latest version of the operating system.
Of course, that depends on Samsung too, and as we know the manufacturer can be a bit strict when it comes to updating their older devices. The company is generally sticking to the stance that they should keep releasing new and more powerful hardware and only support that instead of trying to provide updates for Android across their entire line-up.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel – custom ROM developers. If the device really doesn’t get Android 6.0 through the official channels, it should at least still have a custom ROM released for it after some time which allows users to install the OS on their phones and see how it works. It might have some of its features removed or trimmed down in order to work correctly, but that’s a small price to pay for all of the improvements that are supposedly coming with Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Hopefully the update isn’t going to compromise performance, however.
That’s the other main issue with Android – even if the newest update does come out for older hardware, it’s not guaranteed that it will work correctly there and won’t have any lag issues. Sometimes new Android versions feel very broken on older phones and tablets, and suffer from serious lag issues and even instability that makes the operating system unusable. We don’t know if the Samsung Galaxy S4 could behave in a similar way if the device ends up getting access to Android 6.0 Marshmallow one way or another, but it’s definitely possible.
I have been reading if you are running 5.0 or higher on Samsung S4 you will be able to do the marshmellow I have 5.1 is this true.