Motorola simply proved why it’s nonetheless the worst at Android updates

It’s secure to say that we’re dwelling within the golden age of Android updates. All Google Pixel telephones include seven years of assured updates, as do most Samsung telephones — together with flagships and price range fashions. Nothing’s newest cellphone delivers 5 years of main Android updates, whereas OnePlus has constantly delivered 4 years of Android OS upgrades for its telephones.

Software program updates are an space the place Motorola has all the time lagged behind the competitors, and even when the corporate has proven indicators of bettering, it’s fallen again into its outdated habits. And as soon as once more, Motorola has simply confirmed why it’s one of many worst at Android updates.

We’re speaking about Motorola’s poor replace insurance policies once more due to a latest report from ITdaily. Based on the publication, Motorola is making an attempt to weasel out of EU laws that may require it to considerably prolong its present replace guarantees.

This previous June, the EU enacted a brand new rule requiring smartphone producers to assist their merchandise with at the very least 5 years of software program updates and safety patches. It’s a great, consumer-friendly rule, and whereas many Android manufacturers already comply with this, Motorola doesn’t. The corporate’s price range Moto G handsets are promised simply two Android OS upgrades, and even Motorola’s top-of-the-line Razr Extremely is restricted to solely three Android updates.

The EU’s latest regulation on replace assist ought to drive Motorola to lastly flip issues round, however in line with ITdaily, Motorola’s legal professionals are trying to push again towards it. Because the report notes, “They [Motorola] consider that the EU doesn’t require a minimal assist interval for updates in any respect, however solely requires that any updates be provided freed from cost.”

Assuming that is true, does Motorola have any standing right here? Presumably. Digging into the complete documentation for the EU’s replace rule, there’s a line that reads as follows:

Working system updates: From the date of finish of placement available on the market to at the very least 5 years after that date, producers, importers or authorised representatives shall, if they supply safety updates, corrective updates or performance updates to an working system, make such updates accessible for gratis for all items of a product mannequin with the identical working system.

Whereas the phrasing right here appears clear on the floor — requiring smartphone producers to replace their merchandise for at the very least 5 years — Motorola is reportedly decoding the wording in a different way. Particularly, if updates are provided for a product, they’ll be made accessible totally free. That’s it.

If Motorola is, the truth is, pursuing this argument — and if the corporate is profitable with it— it’s secure to say that nothing will change with Motorola’s present Android replace technique. If Motorola can discover a method to maintain skirting by with two or three years of Android updates, it is going to, simply because it has for years.

As disappointing as this report is, it’s one of many least shocking issues I’ve seen this yr. And in the event you’re a Motorola fan like me, you most likely really feel the identical approach. For all of the issues Motorola will get proper, the corporate has by no means provided a aggressive Android replace coverage. And yr after yr, that continues to be true.

For some time, I used to be hopeful that sufficient suggestions from critics and shoppers would encourage Motorola to do higher. However the reality is that it hasn’t — at the very least not constantly. The corporate has proven glimpses right here and there, however nothing has caught.

In September 2024, the Motorola Edge 50 Neo launched as the primary Motorola cellphone with 5 years of Android updates. However since then, Motorola has continued to launch telephones with simply two or three years of updates — and that’s been the case for the overwhelming majority of them. We all know Motorola is able to supporting its telephones for longer, however time and time once more, it chooses to not.

Even in the event you don’t take into account Android updates the end-all-be-all, which I believe is a good mindset to have, the very fact is that Motorola repeatedly provides lower than its opponents. When Google and Samsung are offering seven years of updates for telephones that value $500 and $400, for Motorola to cap a $1,300 flagship at simply three Android OS upgrades is absurd.

After placing up with Motorola’s replace shenanigans for years, and now listening to that the corporate is reportedly combating laws that may require it to enhance, I believe I’m completed hoping Motorola will ever flip a brand new leaf. I would like Motorola to be higher than this, and it’s best to too. However when Motorola itself clearly doesn’t wish to be, possibly we must always simply settle for that Motorola is — and all the time will likely be — the worst at Android updates.