T-Mobile retroactively removes status updates related to software updates

BugPlusWont wrote:

You're wrong. T-mobile makes the updates for the T-mobile Variant, that's why there is a dedicated page for development.

 

The bootloader for the T-mobile Variant is custom and has to be circumvented to make the phone a true "unlocked" version.

 

You don't know what you're talking about and very unhelpful, reported.

Don't forget the "T-Mobile 5G chip" that I was told by a T-Mobile worker isn't a 5g phone. 😑

tidbits wrote:

syaoran wrote:

HeavenM wrote:

Hey all.

Gracias @gramps28  for supplying that link for the Android update tracker. I did confirm with our teams that OnePlus is still developing the update for the 7T Pro 5G. There is no launch date for the update and it may be after the Android 13 update starts rolling out so that is why the page was removed at this time.  

A few things that I did want to clarify on the update process.

• T-Mobile and other carriers provide requirements to the OEMs that are taken into account during development. The manufacturers build the update and then we test it out before allowing it to be launched to our customers. We can reject an update if it does not meet our standards for quality.
• Starting development on an OS or update does not guarantee that it will be released. There are a ton of factors that can cause the decision to be made not to proceed with testing or deployment and that decision is usually made by the manufacturer unless the carrier tests the final product and say it is not to our standards.

If T-Mobile actually does some testing and I mean, more than just with their bloat and carrier aggregation or a quick 5 seconds of, just to say we did.  I have never seen any evidence of that in open or closed beta sides of OnePlus, LG, or Samsung channels and from talking with T-Mobile's Network Engineering Team.  If I take your word at face value…  T-Mobile clearly needs to do a way better job at this "testing"!  

Their testing is against their network not the actual OS itself.  It's honestly what Sony has been doing when I worked there with my cousin who also worked at Samsung.  Yes all carriers around the world "test" updates.  Most cases they'll test the OS it the sense it works, and most of it will have more to do with carrier connectivity, and security.  Carriers don't see logs, or code for example to even actually test  better than an average joe testing the beta. People are unaware of this.  Often when something passes some companies end up updating some of their apps and don't even bother testing them or push out the update. Just small example.  Google had a problem with Words With Friends 2 which broke a feature for their Pixel Line.  Carriers already tested and approved the update. There are only so much testing that can be done and often there's a deadline often carriers are constrained to.  US carriers are under the thumbs of overzealous customers to push out updates unlike the rest of the world.  

Not really overzealous customers, just provide the written, stated, and implied products services and maintenance you (carriers) said you would when you took my money that's now sitting in your pockets providing funds and updates for your infrastructure and other phones updates. Ever heard of "Mr. Magnuson Moss"?

Just to be clear you= T-Mobile

adding reading materials..from the OnePlus forums for this exact phone. looks like they started Beta testing the newest 12 update in India only so far..started on the 8th. couple weeks ago roughly..also looks like the first update (the one that got yanked) was pulled and now OP is on attempt two for Android 12.

https://community.oneplus.com/thread?id=1180121582220607489

Hey folks,

I’d like to level set on how things work and acknowledge the feedback being provided for improvement has been received.

Let’s start with software updates

What is the basic design principle for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)?

When OEMs build a device they do so with a specific chipset and network configuration in mind. This simplifies the production model and delivers consistency in test results. When devices are picked up by carriers most carriers implement different variants. This is because the hardware in the devices and the networks they communicate with are almost always different than the OEM preferred/designed configuration.

How is software changed from the OEM design for a carrier?

Carriers test the software before launch knowing it was designed for a different chipset and network. Carriers do that to preserve customers experience. When a misconfiguration is identified the carriers have the opportunity to agregar code to the deployment package. It doesn't modify OEM base code or security updates. It adds to it. You can think of them like translator or optimizer services between the network, hardware, and software. The carrier will also take the time to evaluate it's own apps performance against the software to make sure proprietary applications function properly.

Why does this matter if T-Mobile doesn’t change the OS? 

This is done to ensure that the experience on the device and our network meet our expectations for customers. Carriers want the best network experience for their customers. Making sure every network interaction from devices is one ingredient that can be leveraged to improve those reliability tests that everyone touts.

Now about that web content

Occasionally your steps are wrong in your content. What gives?

Completely mapped out software is hundreds of screens with thousands of words, fields, buttons, sliders, etc. I know. My team has written it for a decade. It's a lot. Testing being performed for usability does not always catch changes made by the OEM. To complicate matters menus can be different from device to device within the same OEMs portfolio which makes tracking changes very complex. When devices go through multiple updates each year sometimes things get missed. We end up on social media. It's embarrassing. We fix it as quickly as possible. Sorry everyone. We mean well.

Why’d a specific piece of content go away?

Content has a lifecycle. It's created shortly ahead of it's need. It's deployed at launch. It serves its purpose. When it's no longer necessary it's retired. When content exceeds it's usefulness we intentionally retire it.

Why would you retire anything?

For a few reasons. Most people find things with search tools, but some still use navigation. The more content you have the more search results you have, or the longer it takes to navigate to specific content. If left unchecked search engines may start serving the wrong content because the search terms and relevance are so similar that it can't understand the difference or the wrong content overtakes the appropriate content as the preferred search result. Conversely, the navigation directory gets so large people can't find the one page they need in the sea of content. This adds complexity to your website which eventually causes findability issues.

But I still needed that…

Yep! We heard you. We're going to go find out why we didn't have what you needed through the end of it's life and find the solution. It looks like some content was retired early and other content was overwritten for some reason. Hopefully the fix will be simple.

Thank you for the feedback

We appreciate you taking the time to help us improve our processes and content. We don't do things maliciously.

Very well stated, @tidbits!  

syaoran wrote:

HeavenM wrote:

Hey all.

Gracias @gramps28  for supplying that link for the Android update tracker. I did confirm with our teams that OnePlus is still developing the update for the 7T Pro 5G. There is no launch date for the update and it may be after the Android 13 update starts rolling out so that is why the page was removed at this time.  

A few things that I did want to clarify on the update process.

• T-Mobile and other carriers provide requirements to the OEMs that are taken into account during development. The manufacturers build the update and then we test it out before allowing it to be launched to our customers. We can reject an update if it does not meet our standards for quality.
• Starting development on an OS or update does not guarantee that it will be released. There are a ton of factors that can cause the decision to be made not to proceed with testing or deployment and that decision is usually made by the manufacturer unless the carrier tests the final product and say it is not to our standards.

If T-Mobile actually does some testing and I mean, more than just with their bloat and carrier aggregation or a quick 5 seconds of, just to say we did.  I have never seen any evidence of that in open or closed beta sides of OnePlus, LG, or Samsung channels and from talking with T-Mobile's Network Engineering Team.  If I take your word at face value…  T-Mobile clearly needs to do a way better job at this "testing"!  

Their testing is against their network not the actual OS itself.  It's honestly what Sony has been doing when I worked there with my cousin who also worked at Samsung.  Yes all carriers around the world "test" updates.  Most cases they'll test the OS it the sense it works, and most of it will have more to do with carrier connectivity, and security.  Carriers don't see logs, or code for example to even actually test  better than an average joe testing the beta. People are unaware of this.  Often when something passes some companies end up updating some of their apps and don't even bother testing them or push out the update. Just small example.  Google had a problem with Words With Friends 2 which broke a feature for their Pixel Line.  Carriers already tested and approved the update. There are only so much testing that can be done and often there's a deadline often carriers are constrained to.  US carriers are under the thumbs of overzealous customers to push out updates unlike the rest of the world.  

HeavenM wrote:

Hey all.

Gracias @gramps28  for supplying that link for the Android update tracker. I did confirm with our teams that OnePlus is still developing the update for the 7T Pro 5G. There is no launch date for the update and it may be after the Android 13 update starts rolling out so that is why the page was removed at this time.  

A few things that I did want to clarify on the update process.

• T-Mobile and other carriers provide requirements to the OEMs that are taken into account during development. The manufacturers build the update and then we test it out before allowing it to be launched to our customers. We can reject an update if it does not meet our standards for quality.
• Starting development on an OS or update does not guarantee that it will be released. There are a ton of factors that can cause the decision to be made not to proceed with testing or deployment and that decision is usually made by the manufacturer unless the carrier tests the final product and say it is not to our standards.

If T-Mobile actually does some testing and I mean, more than just with their bloat and carrier aggregation or a quick 5 seconds of, just to say we did.  I have never seen any evidence of that in open or closed beta sides of OnePlus, LG, or Samsung channels and from talking with T-Mobile's Network Engineering Team.  If I take your word at face value…  T-Mobile clearly needs to do a way better job at this "testing"!  

@HeavenM that's a great answer and the correct one, ultimately T-mobile has the final say, and they took down the page. I appreciate the official further communication on the issue that development is in progress. 

That decision is usually made by the OEM I agree but the McClaren edition is a very peculiar Variant. I'm hopeful it's maybe delayed a month or two from the 8T's most recent upgrade but I won't hold my breath.

But thank you for the answer to why the page was removed, it would be best if that was communicated better than the page being removed, because the obvious conclusion isn't that the page is removed, but that development has halted.

Hey all.

Gracias @gramps28  for supplying that link for the Android update tracker. I did confirm with our teams that OnePlus is still developing the update for the 7T Pro 5G. There is no launch date for the update and it may be after the Android 13 update starts rolling out so that is why the page was removed at this time.  

A few things that I did want to clarify on the update process.

• T-Mobile and other carriers provide requirements to the OEMs that are taken into account during development. The manufacturers build the update and then we test it out before allowing it to be launched to our customers. We can reject an update if it does not meet our standards for quality.
• Starting development on an OS or update does not guarantee that it will be released. There are a ton of factors that can cause the decision to be made not to proceed with testing or deployment and that decision is usually made by the manufacturer unless the carrier tests the final product and say it is not to our standards.

According to this website that's updated regularly says the 7T is still in the development stage. Also says carriers tests the os then once approved the manufacturer sends out the update.

https://piunikaweb.com/2022/08/04/t-mobile-verizon-sprint-att-android-12-update-tracker/