The fragmentation of the Android market is nothing new under the sun, and people are mostly used to the situation by now. Whenever a major new version of the operating system comes out, it typically takes a while before everyone can get their hands on it, depending on the kind of device they have. In some cases users are even completely blocked from upgrading to the new versions, leading to a lot of confusion in the community over the years.
The situation is not much different now with the recently released Android 7.0 Nougat, and there are different reports about the planned availability of the new upgrade for various devices. Reports indicate that the latest entries in the OnePlus line, the OnePlus 2 and 3, are among the devices targeted officially.
On the other hand, those on the OnePlus X will have to go with a custom ROM solution if they want to move up to Android 7.0, and CyanogenMOD looks like the most attractive option at the moment. With a device as popular as that, we’re sure that the scene is going to see a large number of custom ROMs available soon enough, so there should be a good selection for those who want to go this way.
Motorola’s users have been asking about the current state of Android 7.0 on the company’s recent devices as well. It’s not unusual for Motorola to be among the market leaders in this regard, and they are usually very responsible in getting their devices up to date with the latest version of the operating system.
It looks like things are going to stay the same for Android 7.0, as we’ve already seen reports about the operating system being released on several of Motorola’s devices. So far, the company has confirmed the upgrade for over a dozen devices, but users have pointed out that a few specific models are missing from the list, despite the fact that they should be eligible.
There are also some rumors that Android 7.0 may actually arrive with a delay for Motorola’s users, mostly due to reported issues behind the scenes related to Lenovo. This is still unconfirmed and we don’t know what the situation is like exactly, but users have been on edge the last few weeks due to those reports.
December should be an eventful month for most of the owners of devices that are supposed to get Android 7.0, and we’ve seen various reports indicating that the upgrade is going to roll out throughout the rest of the month for most of the market.
What will happen after that is hard to predict, as is usually the case with Android updates. Especially when it comes to major ones – many users probably still remember the situation around Android 6.0, which was messy to say the least.
Google have been improving their game in this regard though, and they’ve made some changes to the way Android is developed that have allowed for a much smoother transition from one major version to the next.
There are still problems, even with Google’s own devices, but the situation is definitely getting better. It’s highly likely that the market is going to reach a more standardized state with regards to Android versions at some point over the next year, and this will be a huge plus for many users of the operating system. It would also work well for Google, who seem to be losing some market share lately.