Please visit our new TrackAbout Knowledge Base at https://supportkb.trackabout.com for the most-up-to-date documentation on TrackAbout and TrackAbout Mobile.
Difference between revisions of "Smartphone Hardware Purchasing Recommendations"
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:Rugged-grade Android devices may have a longer service life of 4-5 years. However, they will likely not receive security updates. | :Rugged-grade Android devices may have a longer service life of 4-5 years. However, they will likely not receive security updates. | ||
| − | ===Android Support Policy Explained=== | + | ===TrackAbout's Android Support Policy Explained=== |
| + | What is TrackAbout's reasoning for supporting certain versions of Android? | ||
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See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history Wikipedia's Android Version History] for detailed timeline of Android's version history. | See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history Wikipedia's Android Version History] for detailed timeline of Android's version history. | ||
Revision as of 16:13, 30 September 2021
Apple iOS Devices
TrackAbout's iOS Version Support Policy
Updated September 29th, 2021. This policy is reviewed quarterly.
Supported iOS Versions
Apple devices running older OS versions will stop getting updates of TrackAbout.
To find the software version on your iOS device see Apple's support.apple.com: Find the software version page.
You may also find the following page useful to see a list of which devices are able to run which versions of iOS: https://iosref.com/ios
Currently Supported iPhones
- iPhone 13 series
- iPhone 12 series (12, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max)
- iPhone 11 series (11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max)
- iPhone X series (X, XR, XS, XS Max)
- iPhone 8 series (8, 8 Plus)
- iPhone 7 series (7, 7 Plus)
- iPhone 6 series (6S, 6S Plus)
- Losing support Jan 2022: iPhone 6 and 6 Plus
- iPhone SE series (gen 1 and gen 2)
See support.apple.com: Identifying iPhone Models to determine which model you have.
Supported iPads
NOTE: WiFi-only (non-cellular) iPads do not have a GPS chip and geolocation of assets and records will be inaccurate.
See support.apple.com: Identifying iPad Models
The TrackAbout application will work on iPad, but the design is not currently optimized to take advantage of the larger tablet screen.
Supported iPod Touches
NOTE: iPod Touches do not have a GPS chip and geolocation of assets and records will be inaccurate.
- iPod Touch (7th generation)
See support.apple.com: Identifying iPod Models
TrackAbout's Support Policy Explained
What is TrackAbout's reasoning for supporting certain versions of iOS?
Apple releases new major versions of iOS (e.g. iOS 13 to iOS 14) each year. See Wikipedia History of iOS for the exact schedule.
TrackAbout must choose how far back to support major versions of iOS. As time passes, it becomes increasingly expensive and eventually impossible to continue supporting apps on old versions of iOS. Apple forces the hand of developers by dropping support for older versions of iOS from their developer tools.
iPhones and iPads are consumer technology, and the pace of change in the consumer space is rapid. Whereas rugged enterprise devices are typically expected to have a useful service life of 5 years, consumer technology generally has a life-span of 2-3 years.
TrackAbout is sensitive to the needs of its customers and does not wish to unduly prohibit use of the app by paying customers who haven't yet or cannot update their devices to the latest version of iOS.
Therefore, TrackAbout's iOS Version Support Policy balances these competing realities by:
- Supporting the last two major releases (back to the most recent dot version of the older OS). For example, if iOS 11.3 is the latest version, TrackAbout supports iOS 11.X and iOS 10.3, which was the highest version in the 10.x series.
- Prompting users periodically to upgrade from within the TrackAbout app when a newer iOS version is available.
- Increasing TrackAbout's minimum requirements 6 months after Apple releases a new OS. New versions of iOS typically reach greater than 80% adoption within 6 months of release.
Google Android Devices
Android Version Support Policy
Updated September 29th, 2021. This policy is reviewed quarterly.
Operating System
Devices with non-supported OS versions will cease to get new updates of TrackAbout from their respective stores. They will always be able to uninstall and reinstall the last supported version from stores, but TrackAbout will only support the current application release.
See How to check what Android version you have
Hardware requirements
- A rear-facing camera with 2 megapixels or greater
- Minimum 1 GB RAM
- Bluetooth (for printing)
Choosing an Android Device
There are a great many consumer-grade Android devices on the market at all price points. TrackAbout does not recommend specific models. So how do you choose? Here's what's important:
- Android OS Version
- You must make sure the device meets TrackAbout's requirements (above) for minimum OS version. The higher the version number, the better. Plan for at least 3 years of OS updates, and understand that TrackAbout will drop support for older versions of the Android OS at least annually.
- Monthly Android OS Security Updates
- Google releases monthly operating system security patches. It's important for your security and the security of your company that you choose a phone that will receive these updates. Bargain devices tend to not receive the updates. Some carrier-sold devices do not regularly receive updates. Devices sold directly by Google in their Store will always receive timely updates. Flagship devices like the Samsung Galaxy series sold by network carriers will likely receive updates. Ask when buying or do some research to find out.
- CPU + Camera
- Scanning QR and barcodes using the smartphone's camera requires a powerful CPU. A bargain phone will likely have a poor camera and a sub-par CPU. Most mid-tier devices made in 2017 and later will probably have acceptable camera and CPU performance, but you should buy one phone and test it, and return it if it doesn't perform well enough. Compare the performance to a high-end Android or iPhone running TrackAbout.
- Battery
- Most Android devices get 3 to 4 hours of screen on time (SoT) under typical usage scenarios before needing a recharge. Barcode scanning makes heavy use of the camera to take rapid images of the target barcodes. Those images are fed to the CPU for image recognition processing (finding the barcodes). Barcode scanning can therefore drain a battery faster. Opt for a phone with an over-sized battery when possible. A phone with replaceable batteries could be a good choice, or provide workers with car chargers or portable battery recharge packs for use in the field so they can keep going all day. Be aware of Quick Charge technology and buy compliant Quick Charge chargers.
- Buy One and Test
- What kind of environment are your workers in? Outdoors? Indoors in low-light? Some cameras do not perform well in low-light, they may have auto-focus problems which impacts scanning. It's important that you try out a phone in your environment before purchasing in quantity.
- Safe Bets
- The current generation Samsung Galaxy devices are typically safe bets because they meet all the above criteria. They are flagship (top of the line) products with great specs and a great camera, which makes for excellent scanning.
- Devices sold directly in the Google Store are generally safe bets, although as of this writing (April 2017) they tend to be expensive, flagship devices.
- TrackAbout does not routinely test Android devices, so we can't make other more specific recommendations here.
- Supported Rugged Android Devices
See the list of certified devices on the Featured Rugged Android Devices section of the Certified Devices wiki page.
- Known-Bad Devices
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - Our test device had severe camera auto-focus problems that made scanning very frustrating. There are widely reported problems with auto-focus on the Note 4. We attempted modifying "Metering Modes" under camera settings, trying Matrix or Spot settings, but it did not help.
- Useful Service Life
- Consumer-grade smartphones have a useful service life of about 2 years. After 2 years, one of two things will happen. (1) The battery will age and fail to hold a reasonable charge. Batteries can sometimes be replaced, but it may not be cost-effective. (2) The device will no longer receive security updates. In either case, the device should be replaced.
- Rugged-grade Android devices may have a longer service life of 4-5 years. However, they will likely not receive security updates.
TrackAbout's Android Support Policy Explained
What is TrackAbout's reasoning for supporting certain versions of Android?
See Wikipedia's Android Version History for detailed timeline of Android's version history.
Google increments the major version number of Android (e.g. Android 7.0 to Android 8.0) once a year.
Google increments the minor version number of Android (e.g. 7.0 to 7.1) occasionally. and with no set schedule. Google does issue monthly security patches that typically don't change the minor version number. However, not all phone manufacturers or cell phone carriers deliver the Google security updates monthly, if at all.
Google has an unwritten policy that states that its manufacturers should provide Android updates up to 18 months from a device's introduction date. However, manufacturers are not required to not follow this policy.
Different device manufacturers (Samsung, HTC, LG, etc) update their devices at different speeds. Traditionally, manufacturers have been slow to update devices, and have been known to abandon specific devices before 18 months have elapsed. This leads to a large number of simultaneously active versions of Android in the wild.
Android phones and tablets are generally a consumer technology, and the pace of change in the consumer space is rapid. Whereas rugged enterprise devices are typically expected to have a useful service life of 4-5 years, consumer technology generally has a life-span of 2 years.
There are a rugged Android devices available, and the version of Android OS installed on rugged devices tends to lag behind the latest consumer devices.
TrackAbout is sensitive to the needs of its customers and does not wish to unduly prohibit use of the app by paying customers who haven't yet or cannot update their devices to the latest version of Android. On the other hand, supporting so many different versions of the Android operating system adds complexity and maintenance costs to the software development process.
TrackAbout's Android Version Support Policy balances the competing realities by:
- Supporting Android versions that have 10% or greater market share according to Google's monthly statistics.
- Supporting rugged Android devices on a case-by-case basis and for as long as we reasonably can. Rugged device Android versions tend to lag consumer device versions and do not generally receive updates. It has been our experience that Android software development tools change to keep up with the latest versions of the OS, and sometimes we do not have a choice to support older operating systems. This can make it prohibitively expensive to support older versions of Android.