Android updates have begun to blur together into a stream of gradual improvements, and it’s rare to see a big, exciting change between versions. However, your Android version probably matters now more than it ever has.
New versions used to mean big changes
It was like a new operating system with each new version
In the early days of Android, every time there was a new version released, you could count on major changes and a swath of exciting new things to try.
The leap from Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich was enormous. The new user interface was sleeker, it made it easier to find commonly used apps by arranging them along the bottom of your screen, and Google introduced its then-new font, Roboto. Google reworked how navigational buttons worked, something that was barely present in Gingerbread.
Under the hood, there were improvements to widgets, browser speeds, the Contacts and camera apps, and more. It almost felt like opening up a different operating system entirely.
However, sometime around the time that updates stopped getting named after sweet desserts, updates became a bit boring.
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Android is a little less sweet these days
Version updates have become incremental changes
Slow and steady is better for essential devices
Modern updates aren’t usually exciting like they used to be, but that doesn’t mean they’re not still important. I’d argue that they’re more important than ever.
One tangible example is privacy and security. Over the last few major Android versions, users have been given greater control over what their phone does and what apps on their phone can do.
Android 13 required apps to get permission to read different kinds of media, instead of getting free rein over all the files on your device. There was a push to a new Photo Picker, which helped prevent apps from gaining access to all of your pictures when you intended to only supply one.
Android 14 continued to build on that by allowing you to give partial access to photos and videos.
Android 15 brought with it a private space, which allows you to hide certain apps behind a passcode—a feature much like the locked photo album that has been around for years.
Credit: Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek
Security updates aren’t exciting at all, but considering how much information we store or access on our phones, it is increasingly important that they’re well-protected and come with robust privacy features.
Of course, it isn’t all improvements to the security systems. We’ve seen steady improvements across pretty much every facet of the operating system, but they’re exactly that—steady improvements. It has been a very long time since I’ve unlocked my phone after a new Android update only to be wowed by the changes.
Hardware changes less between generations
Part of the reason for the shift from updates that deliver major changes to more incremental updates comes from the hardware itself.
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Moore’s law has been over for a while, and we no longer see huge performance gains between phone generations. With the exception of a few fun gimmicks, like the Pixel’s thermometer, phone designers don’t usually experiment with outlandish new hardware either.
When smartphones were an immature technology, we saw rapid iteration. Now that they’ve been around for nearly 20 years, we’re at a point of steady improvements instead of radical redesigns every year.
Phone manufacturers add more interesting features than Android
Android has become a bit humdrum
Of course, just because Android doesn’t add interesting new features doesn’t mean it isn’t happening at all. Most phone manufacturers have a mix of their own features to Android to give their phones a unique feel, or a unique advantage.
Google’s Pixel lineup usually has several exclusive AI-driven features, like Call Screening, Now Playing, and their excellent camera app.
Samsung phones come with a different user interface—One UI—that gives them a completely different feel from stock Android devices. Samsung phones also come with some exclusive apps and features, like Expert RAW, which offers fine control over your camera settings, or Dex, which lets you convert your phone into a miniature desktop PC.
Credit: Bertel King / How-To Geek
They’re not alone, either. Any time you pick up a device from a different manufacturer, you can count on discovering some unique features. I still miss Motorola’s chop-to-activate flashlight more than 7 years later.
Cellphones are practically a necessity for modern life
It is almost a little sad that “major” updates to the operating system don’t usually introduce a swath of exciting new features and redesigns to the operating system, but just as software and hardware have changed, so have the ways we use our phones.
When Android 2.3—Gingerbread—was released, smartphones were still relatively new. They were a novelty, not a necessity.
Today, however, things are very different. You can use your phone to pay for things at the store, do your banking, chat with your doctor, view a menu at a restaurant, and get login codes via an authenticator app for the myriad of online services we all have.
Phones are no longer a novelty, they’re a practical tool and almost a necessity. In light of that change, it is probably for the best that updates are more toned down than they used to be.
