Google Isn’t Fixing Some Old Android Bugs

As I remember it, most of these critical bugs are in the Android browser, which is considered a core part of the OS in those versions. The trouble with that is there&#x27;s no way to update it without doing all the work of a whole OS update, including the usual mess of getting approval and merging changes from device manufacturers and local carriers.<p>It seems more understandable that way that Google told them to just upgrade to a newer Android version instead.

<i>That covers roughly two-thirds of the billion-plus Android devices in use, according to Google</i><p>Wow. How is this even remotely acceptable? I get that they want to focus on the latest and greatest, but leaving 2&#x2F;3 of your users out in the cold, in 2015&#x27;s security climate is absolutely <i>insane</i>!<p>Nevermind the fact that upgrading is a non starter for most users.

Chrome is available for Android 4.0+ which amounts to 85%+ of Android devices in the installed base, according to <a href="https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;developer.android.com&#x2F;about&#x2F;dashboards&#x2F;index.html</a><p>It&#x27;s a non-issue, as with other bugs Google recently closed as NTBF.

Reminds me of the Android File Transfer bug that disables MacBook keyboard&#x2F;trackpad if the phone is locked. It was recently marked as &quot;obsolete&quot;, despite all Android documentation (and even software on the phone) suggests the user use it, and the bug still exists on Lollipop:<p><a href="https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=39548" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;code.google.com&#x2F;p&#x2F;android&#x2F;issues&#x2F;detail?id=39548</a><p>I don&#x27;t really understand how this has slipped through the cracks; Google has a decent number of MacBooks in their offices last time I was there, so maybe copying files just isn&#x27;t popular? Either way, it&#x27;s a pain that the tool is closed source and the maintainer won&#x27;t maintain it.

I think the eventual solution will be a software subscription fee that ends up going to the carriers. They are motivated to get people to upgrade their phones right now, and unless they are legally obligated or financially compensated, I doubt they will change their practices to enable people keeping their phones.