Android devices have a much smaller life than their competitors like Windows and Apple devices. Reason can be broadly classified in two divisions.
- Lack of app support
An average android phone today can last for more than 4 to 5 years on its own merit, if anyone is willing to keep it alive. I bought a Micromax phone with Android Gingerbread (2.3.5) back in the early days in the year 2013. It stopped working recently because of battery issues. Simple math tells that the phone lasted for more than 4 years.
However, with each android API update, new libraries are added, and some older ones get deprecated. Developers must keep their apps on Google Play Store updated with these latest changes. To ensure same functionality and features of the app on all devices, eventually older devices have to be abandoned.
Example: WhatsApp abandoning android 2.2 and below devices
Thus the phones not only lack features from latest Android, but also third party app support.
- No standard hardware
Ever wondered why it is so easy to upgrade Windows PC? It happens automatically, directly from Microsoft. At most, you need to download the .iso file, burn it to a thumb drive and you are good to update your system.
Why doesn't this happen to Android? This is because most PCs have hardware standardization (IBM). An OS knows where to expect what hardware. In contrast, Google has not specifically set any hardware standards. There are a couple of tests like Compatibility Test Suite which an OEM must pass their device through, but it isn't similar to IBM standard.
- CTS checks
Compatibility Test Suite, as mentioned above and Compatibility Definition Document decides to which device, an OEM can officially pust an android update. Check the latest CDD here:
Android 7.1 Compatibility Definition | Android Open Source Project
Sometimes, CTS prevents OEMs to push updates to perfectly capable devices. Sony Xperia Z3 was one of the non-nexus phones to get Android Nougat developer previews. However Google change’its CDD in last moment making its Snapdragon 801 incompatible
Sony claims it's not at fault for not releasing Android 7.0 Nougat for Xperia Z3
- Lack lustre attitude of OEMs
Most manufacturers have their devices bloated and heavily skinned with features. Pushing an update requires building everything, every piece of those specific “features” from scratch. It is time consuming and needs lot of work. That is the reason many manufacturers completely avoid updates.
Google is trying to solve the issue by using new Vendor Test Suite, which will make OEMs keep their code seperate from core Android code, allowing faster OS updates.
As Google releases new Android versions every year, by two years, you are already lagging behind by 2 Android versions. Imagine yourself using Windows 7 now, when everyone is using Windows 10.
- Hardware ageing
As mentioned previously, current android phones have hardware to keep up for about 5 years. However, phone manufacturers have the only income by sales from their devices. As a result they need to keep releasing newer devices periodically, with better hardware than the previous of devices. This makes owners of older devices feel that their's have become excessively aged. So people buy new phones and older ones quickly reach End Of Life, both in software and hardware.
These are some of the reasons why android devices age so quickly.
