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[Dural]

So I found an old Android tablet I forgot I had the other day and wanted to set it up for my kids to use as it's still in great condition and has an awesome OLED screen. I try and run Youtube but it says there's a new version, I try and get it off the store and it won't download. I'm thinking I need to update the tablet but of course there aren't any updates for it, looks like the last update was 2016. I go and get the latest versions of Google Services and then install the latest versions of the the Play store and Youtube and everything seems to be working ok then a few days pass and the tablet is running like shit with Youtube barely able to play anything. I just reset it to factory defaults and am going to see if I can get it working again. Why the hell can't Google make the latest versions of Android work on older tablets? I mean Windows and Linux can be installed and damn near anything and it works but with Android I can get a couple of updates and that's it. Really freaking frustrating!

 

[godhandiscen]

Why the hell can't Google make the latest versions of Android work on older tablets? I mean Windows and Linux can be installed and damn near anything and it works but with Android I can get a couple of updates and that's it. Really freaking frustrating!

Planned obsolescence. Google makes money by rendering their old devices unusable. The newer devices have more hardware features that allow them to get more money out of you.

This shit even happens in GCP (Google cloud). Some old services that allowed me to host things for cheap suddenly become “deprecated for vulnerabilities” and the newer version alternative comes at a higher cost.

 

[daveonezero]

You probably would have to put lineage or something on it.

Tablets are in a dire spot these days. It is sad.

 

[Dural]

You probably would have to put lineage or something on it.

Tablets are in a dire spot these days. It is sad.

I've looked into it and this tablet isn't supported, not much support on XDA either. Wasn't a popular tablet at the time.

It sucks as they can be useful and there's really no reason to just throw it away, Google needs to get it's shit together in regards to Android tablets.

 

[Drew1440]

You will probably have to reduce the Youtube resolution down to 360p, or even lower. As Google move towards more efficient codecs, they become more demanding on the hardware.
Alternatively you can try running it through the Brave browser, which I found to be much more efficient.

 

[sackings]

Apple does the exact same thing. Planned obsolescence

 

[CAB_Life]

Just traded my s7+ for/ back to an iPad Pro. Android tablets and phones even feel cobbled together in a lot of ways. Every time I attempt to change platforms I always regret it. Software solutions are incomplete and the hardware is usually lacking in one way or another.

 

[Fbh]

Wouldn't want customers to be able to stick with a product for many years now, wouldn't we?
To be fair though, my low end 2016 Samsung tablet still works decently for Youtube, Netflix, Mangaplus and some light internet browsing. Only frustrating part is that it only has 16gb and for some reason the majority of apps can't be moved to the SD card.

Maybe check out youtube vanced, might work better than the official app

 

[dr_octagon]

Just traded my s7+ for/ back to an iPad Pro. Android tablets and phones even feel cobbled together in a lot of ways. Every time I attempt to change platforms I always regret it. Software solutions are incomplete and the hardware is usually lacking in one way or another.

android phones are a lot better, even for the non high range models

I switched to iPad for tablet use, Apple have cornered the market and no other device comes close

 

[Dural]

After wiping it and deleting everything I could and updating google services and the play store it’s working decently. The YouTube app is ok and Plex is actually working now, wouldn’t sync anything before.

Just traded my s7+ for/ back to an iPad Pro. Android tablets and phones even feel cobbled together in a lot of ways. Every time I attempt to change platforms I always regret it. Software solutions are incomplete and the hardware is usually lacking in one way or another.

I have an S7+ as well as an iPad Pro and the iPad is way better for a lot of things, but I like the S7+ for browsing with edge, YouTube, and Plex. The iPad, surprisingly, is much better with productivity stuff. I’ve rendered some 5k 360 videos on both using the same app and it just works better on the iPad. Developers just don’t give a shit about making their apps for Android tablets very good. It’s unbelievable how many big android apps aren’t made to work with a tablet and only display in portrait.

 

[michaelius]

Check XDA even if official support is dead sometimes you can find community updates at least for popular devices.

 

[BigBooper]

Try using a browser instead of the app. Firefox works well.

 

[RoyalLaFlame]

Yeah, I'm an Android dev and I have some Android tablets laying around the office. The support for old devices or just old Android versions is simply shit. A lot of the new things don't work at all with older versions. There's a lot of compatibility issues and I'm pretty sure Google does it on purpose. So Android tablets are pretty bad in the long run.

That's why I use iOS and iPads personally.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Apple does the exact same thing. Planned obsolescence

iPads last way way longer than android stuff.

 

[Meicyn]

Apple does the exact same thing. Planned obsolescence

They really don’t. Their next OS release this fall supports iPad Air 2, a device released back in 2014. That’s 7 years of software support.

If you want to shit on Apple, planned obsolescence aint it. Now if you want to talk about how iPadOS is woefully underperforming for the caliber of processors in their iPad Pro lineup…

 

[HoodWinked]

It's not really planned obsolescence. Since there isn't really a plan. No android OEMs make money on tablets other than maybe Samsung, so it doesn't really benefit.

it's more that apps just get more and more bloat and less and less efficient so you need higher specs to run things.

also app makers will test their stuff on the most common devices, it would be inefficient to devote development efforts on trying to support devices that aren't being used.

 

[daveonezero]

It also isn't googles fault. It is the company that stops releasing updates and not unlocking the boot loader. If these things were unlocked they could be loaded with anything.

I've looked into it and this tablet isn't supported, not much support on XDA either. Wasn't a popular tablet at the time.

It sucks as they can be useful and there's really no reason to just throw it away, Google needs to get it's shit together in regards to Android tablets.

Install Custom ROMs on Android devices (universal guide)

You can do it on anything its just not "supported"

If you have root this is possible. If not you are fucked.

 

[Dural]

It also isn't googles fault. It is the company that stops releasing updates and not unlocking the boot loader. If these things were unlocked they could be loaded with anything.

Install Custom ROMs on Android devices (universal guide)

You can do it on anything its just not "supported"

If you have root this is possible. If not you are fucked.

Locked bootloaders is such a bunch of BS, imagine if PC manufacturers started doing shit like that.

Yeah, I've read a bunch of threads on XDA and there's not much I can do. I've rooted and installed custom roms before but it's a no go on this tablet.

 

[Neo_GAF]

i dunno, i bought my ipad 4 in 2013, and it doesnt work for the last 2-3 years.
i forgot to update it to ios 10 or something, i havent used it for ages, but when i tried to(it is on ios 8.3) it doesnt run shit.
youtube does not work, chrome, safari nothing.
only the old games i have stored on it. but man, this absolutely is bonkers how many old devices are crapping up the environment.

 

[QuantumZebra]

You just nailed why I went Apple across the board and will never look back.

Unless its a specifically Google-made product (IE Pixel) - the manufacturer takes Android and puts their own spin on it. If the manufacturer doesn't think it's worth it to gut/rework the newest Android release for their older devices... whelp you're screwed (unless you root/image it).

I bought a Galaxy S8+ and thought it was awesome till I waited a year + for the newest Android OS and never got it. Sold that POS and got an iPhone 8 Plus and have been happy since.

Apple does the exact same thing. Planned obsolescence

Breh the iPhone 6S is still receiving updates and it's almost 10 years old.

My Samsung wasn't getting the newest OS 2 years from release.

 

[sackings]

You just nailed why I went Apple across the board and will never look back.

Unless its a specifically Google-made product (IE Pixel) - the manufacturer takes Android and puts their own spin on it. If the manufacturer doesn't think it's worth it to gut/rework the newest Android release for their older devices... whelp you're screwed (unless you root/image it).

I bought a Galaxy S8+ and thought it was awesome till I waited a year + for the newest Android OS and never got it. Sold that POS and got an iPhone 8 Plus and have been happy since.



Breh the iPhone 6S is still receiving updates and it's almost 10 years old.

My Samsung wasn't getting the newest OS 2 years from release.

I've had to recycle 2 ipads in the last year because they were impossible to update , and believe me I tried. Granted they were pretty old, probably at least 10 years.

 

[Quasicat]

I haven’t done this in awhile, but I used to go out and buy the newest Kindle Fire HD and install Google services on it every other year. By the end of that second year, many of the apps did not support it anymore and I would replace it when they dropped them to $80 (with no ads). I was saving money, but was sick of playing the dropping support game. I picked up an iPad a couple of years and it’s still being supported through the next update. Yes it’s more expensive short term, but long term it makes sense.

 

[Dural]

What is it about tablets and mobile devices that keeps them from just being able to update like a Windows or Linux device? They pretty much all use similar ARM hardware, it's not like there's something exotic being used by certain manufacturers. Is it just down to the way Google built Android? They put everything on the manufacturers?

 

[MilkyJoe]

Planned obsolescence. Google makes money by rendering their old devices unusable. The newer devices have more hardware features that allow them to get more money out of you.

This shit even happens in GCP (Google cloud). Some old services that allowed me to host things for cheap suddenly become “deprecated for vulnerabilities” and the newer version alternative comes at a higher cost.

Corrrct-a-mondo

 

[TTOOLL]

Never ever buy an Android tablet.

 

[ShirAhava]

The Nexus 7 was my shit

I (and google seemingly) gave up on them after that

 

[QuantumZebra]

I've had to recycle 2 ipads in the last year because they were impossible to update , and believe me I tried. Granted they were pretty old, probably at least 10 years.

Yeah I mean if you're a decade out... it doesn't matter who makes it... support is probably EOL. The only software I've seen supported a decade out was Windows XP... and that is one helluva exception.

 

[Pagusas]

Honestly I’m shocked android tablets still even exist. The Android/ iOS phone market is competitive… but the tablet market is just the iPad to me.

 

[Kadve]

So I found an old Android tablet I forgot I had the other day and wanted to set it up for my kids to use as it's still in great condition and has an awesome OLED screen. I try and run Youtube but it says there's a new version, I try and get it off the store and it won't download. I'm thinking I need to update the tablet but of course there aren't any updates for it, looks like the last update was 2016. I go and get the latest versions of Google Services and then install the latest versions of the the Play store and Youtube and everything seems to be working ok then a few days pass and the tablet is running like shit with Youtube barely able to play anything. I just reset it to factory defaults and am going to see if I can get it working again. Why the hell can't Google make the latest versions of Android work on older tablets? I mean Windows and Linux can be installed and damn near anything and it works but with Android I can get a couple of updates and that's it. Really freaking frustrating!

My galaxy tab S from 2014 still runs Youtube and most apps i throw at it perfectly. What sort of strange android tablet have you found?

They really don’t. Their next OS release this fall supports iPad Air 2, a device released back in 2014. That’s 7 years of software support.

If you want to shit on Apple, planned obsolescence aint it.

Neither does Google really. Oldest android version still supported by them is 5.0 (Lollipop)
also from 2014. All their apps such as Youtube and Chrome should work on those systems even if many third party ones don't.

 

[Dural]

My galaxy tab S from 2014 still runs Youtube and most apps i throw at it perfectly. What sort of strange android tablet have you found?
(Edit) Oldest android version Youtube is supported on is 4.4 (Kitkat) from 2013.

It works now after I wiped it and reinstalled the latest versions.

 

[Kadve]

It works now after I wiped it and reinstalled the latest versions.

Sounds like the previous owner did some potentially warranty voiding stuff too it.

 

[MastAndo]

I know Android tablets get a bad rap, but I just bought a Galaxy Tab S7+ for media consumption and some drawing, and I absolutely love it. The screen is gorgeous and it's super responsive (and 120Hz), though admittedly, plenty of apps are clearly not made for larger screens. I'm too invested in the Google/Android ecosystem to every buy an Apple product, but this seems like a definite competitor to me.

 

[Dural]

I know Android tablets get a bad rap, but I just bought a Galaxy Tab S7+ for media consumption and some drawing, and I absolutely love it. The screen is gorgeous and it's super responsive (and 120Hz), though admittedly, plenty of apps are clearly not made for larger screens. I'm too invested in the Google/Android ecosystem to every buy an Apple product, but this seems like a definite competitor to me.

I also have the S7+ and use it pretty much daily for browsing the web and media consumption, it's great for that. Even then there are missing features from some apps compared to the iOS counterpart; Plex won't go into a window like on iOS tablets. Yes, I can snap it to the side and have another app snapped to the other side, but it's not the same. The problem is developers just don't seem to give a shit about making tablet optimized apps for Android; even big apps like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Robin Hood, and Best Buy don't optimize their apps for tablets. I've been trying to find good photo editing and video editing apps that are optimized for tablets and haven't had any luck. On iOS there are countless. The apps that aren't tablet optimized also typically don't allow to be snapped and only work in portrait mode. I've downloaded a rotation lock app to force landscape and Samsung has an app to force all apps to allow snapping, but there are bugs that can happen with certain apps when doing this. I'm not a developer, so I don't know how difficult it is to add tablet support to an app but Google really should be doing something to either help developers out or force tablet support.

 

[daveonezero]

Locked bootloaders is such a bunch of BS, imagine if PC manufacturers started doing shit like that.

Yeah, I've read a bunch of threads on XDA and there's not much I can do. I've rooted and installed custom roms before but it's a no go on this tablet.

Yeah it’s the reason most of these tablets aren’t worth anything. The market is basically nothing.

if the hardware companies just unlocked these then the community could use them but alas they don’t do that.

 

[Drew1440]

Yeah it’s the reason most of these tablets aren’t worth anything. The market is basically nothing.

if the hardware companies just unlocked these then the community could use them but alas they don’t do that.

Some apps (mostly steamimg) will refuse to run if the hardware is found to be rooted, or if the bootloader isn't locked, SkyGo is the worst for this.

 

[It's all in the wrist]

Set up a deal alert on slickdeals for the latest and greatest Samsung tablet and pay half price for it 5 months later. Android tablets are a blessing.

 

[Dural]

Set up a deal alert on slickdeals for the latest and greatest Samsung tablet and pay half price for it 5 months later. Android tablets are a blessing.

That's how I got the highest spec S7+, at the price I paid I'm happy with it. At full price it's not even close to being worth it.

 

[20cent]

Not all Android tablets are equals,just like Android phones.
Cheap ones and unpopular ones don't age well (after 3 month they are unusable anyway), are bloated with shitty apps and UI and almost no customisation community to make them workable.

The ones that cost similar to iPads have similar update and software support.
I had a Samsung Tab S2 since 2015 and until this day, it's super smooth and the battery is still performing very well. I've updated for a S7 recently as I wanted a bigger screen for comics and it's great for sketching etc.. to me they are more valuable than iPads as they are more flexible, without store restrictions (no Synology torrent client on iOS etc), and easy to manage the contents..

But yeah I had an Amazon Fire something and an LG something for my kids and they were atrocious, even the home could barely be replaced by a 3rd party

 

[Unknown Soldier]

The only tablets worth owning are iPads. There, I said it.

 

[niilokin]

I've noticed my phone or tablet won't download some updates unless they're hooked to wi-fi.

 

[Patrick S.]

I have a Galaxy Tab A 10.1 from 2016 or 2017 and I kinda hate to use it because browsing the web on it is super laggy. I think it only has 2 or 3 GB of RAM, so it's understandable. Everything else works nice, like YouTube in high resolution etc. Considering it only cost like 200-230 Euro new, I guess it's alright. The battery is still good, too.

 

[Spukc]

I like android for samsung dex etc..
On mobile phones.. as something to tweak with. Doom brutal edition at 3440x1440 on your monitor.. and playing some podcast at the same time? With some browser tabs open? NP

but lol android in tablets..
The apps are so so so so so
Soooo
Soooooooo Much BETTER on ipad OS

A selection of apps i use

music DAW’s
Korg gadget 2
Zeeon
Drambo
Moog Model D
Moog model 15
Moog Animoog
Cyclops
Korg iM1
Garage band
Beatmaker 3
Launchpad
Sunrizer
Voice Synth
Moog Filtatron
FL studio mobile
Korg iMS-20
Traktor DJ 2
Korg Electribe
SunVox
Launchkey
Blocs Wave
Korg kaossilator
Samplr

Art and design.
Affinity photo
Affinity designer
Procreate
Pixaki
LumaFusion
IMovie


the apple pencil..
the ipad pro is legit crazy good

 

[Nikodemos]

Unlike Apple, Google has been utterly shit at supporting tablets. They tried at some point in the past with that tablet-specific version (was it 3?), but quickly abandoned it, like a lot of other initiatives. And they have been absolutely garbage at ensuring that apps function correctly on tablets under regular Android.
Currently, the only decent Android tablets are Samsung flagships, and that's because Samsung puts in effort to fill some gaps left by poor Android implementation of tablet apps.

 

[RoadHazard]

Google doesn't decide how long a certain version of Android should work on a certain device, the manufacturer does. Unless it's a Google tablet of course, but those don't exist anymore. And they have to stop supporting each device at some point, or the OS would stagnate. Apple doesn't support iPhones older than X years either, although they're better at it than Android device manufacturers.

 

[Nikodemos]

Apple doesn't support iPhones older than X years either, although they're better at it than Android device manufacturers.

They are way better. They are so much better it's not even a contest. And I'm saying this as somebody who absolutely hates their design philosophy. They've supported the iPhone 5S up until June this year. A phone released eight years ago.

 

[RoadHazard]

They are way better. They are so much better it's not even a contest. And I'm saying this as somebody who absolutely hates their design philosophy. They've supported the iPhone 5S up until June this year. A phone released eight years ago.

Rumor has it Google will go more in that direction with the Pixel 6, with support for something like 5 years.