As we gear up for the release of Android 15, it’s easy to forget just how many ups and downs Android’s history has been. At Android Police, this is our favorite operating system, but it wasn’t necessarily the best. Many of us fondly remember the early versions of Android and the vintage devices that ran them. But when you take off the rose-colored glasses, it’s easy to see that there have been terrible versions of Android throughout its 16-year history.
Let’s break down the five worst Android updates that benefit (or more accurately, save the day) our trusty go-to phones. Whether it’s due to bugs, poor performance, or unwanted changes, these Android versions have earned a spot as one of the ones you don’t want on your list.
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5 Android 6 Marshmallow had its bright spots
However, fragmentation issues and general issues affected this version
Source: Google
Although Android 6.0 Marshmallow had some benefits, such as longer battery life, it introduced some issues. First of all, app permissions in Marshmallow were unclear and complex, confusing developers and users. Fragmentation issues, common issues, and substandard performance on older devices were blots on Marshmallow’s record.
Roland Udvarlaki, one of Android Police’s writers, recalled how Android 6.0 made his Sony Xperia Z5 look like a paperweight. I don’t know if this particular example is Google’s or Sony’s fault, but there are many other experiences like this example involving marshmallows.
Source: Google
The marshmallows were the best of the worst. It introduced features such as a fingerprint sensor and support for a USB Type-C port, as well as apps such as the now-defunct Google Pay (then known as Android Pay). While there was reason to remember it fondly, bugs and issues left a sour taste in the mouths of some Android users.
4 Android 9 Pie introduces tablet navigation
And Android fans ended up remembering Pie in a negative light
Source: Google
Android 9.0 Pie made this list for one reason: pill navigation. Pie introduced the must-have pill-shaped gesture navigation on phones like the Pixel 3. Android is all about choice, and Android 9.0 removes that choice and makes it across the board by shipping weird pill navigation. Users generally hated it, and Google removed pill navigation from the Pixel 4. Gesture navigation is nearly ubiquitous on today’s Android phones and iPhones, but Google’s first attempt with Pie failed.
3 Android 12 Snow Cone had issues and delays
We’re not even talking about Android 12L
Source: Google
Android 12 disappointed with issues, lag, and slowness. Google had its own issues with Android 12, which caused a ripple effect on other top OEMs at the time. OnePlus had a lot of issues developing the Android 12 skin, resulting in multiple delays and the OnePlus Nord N20 shipped without an Android 12 skin. Other issues with this update included slow performance, lag, and delayed notifications. It was poorly received, with countless posts on forums and Google’s support hub where users asked how to roll back their devices to Android 11.
Then there was Android 12L. This is an update optimized for tablets and foldable devices, and was only necessary because Android was performing very poorly on unusual form factors. As Apple continued to make iPadOS the standard for large-screen operating systems, adding a dock had little impact on the user experience.
2 Android 5 Lollipop was full of bugs and issues
Felt like a step back from ice cream sandwiches
Source: Google
Our penultimate choice is Android 5.0 Lollipop. This had some benefits, but was riddled with bugs and performance issues. This release introduced Material Design, which still influences parts of Android. Lollipop felt like a step back from Ice Cream Sandwich’s cohesiveness and lacked authenticity. We loved that Android 5.0 Lollipop brought a clear design language to the platform for the first time, but its ambitious overhaul was riddled with bugs that we didn’t want.
Source: Google
Lollipop had a difficult release with many performance issues and bugs, but it improved over time. In the early days of Android 5.0 Lollipop, there was a phantom battery drain issue that frustrated users. Ultimately, thanks to Project Volta, this update gave Android smartphones longer battery life, but things got worse before they got better. Additionally, some disliked the apparent oversimplification of early Material Design.
Another reason why Android 5.0 Lollipop isn’t very memorable is that it was far behind iOS 8 at the time. Apple was looking to peak ecosystem-level integration with Continuity, which debuted in iOS 8, but lacked an equivalent feature on Android. Cross-device services caught up after about 10 versions.
1 Android 3 Honeycomb was something we never got
Oh that was really bad too
Source: Google
No matter how you slice it, the worst Android version that ever shipped (or didn’t ship) was Android 3.0 Honeycomb. It was a huge failure in almost every way, starting with the direction. Android needed to compete with the iPad, so Honeycomb was a tablet-only release aimed at attracting more users to the best Android tablet at the time. Now we know that that didn’t happen. Android 3.0 Honeycomb was positioned as a tablet-only release, and very few people were able to use it as Android tablets shipped in very low numbers.
Source: Google
The update only rolled out to about a dozen devices and quickly went under the radar. The few people who used Honeycomb may remember it for its bugs, frequent crashes, and overall instability. In some ways, Android 3.0 Honeycomb was too ambitious, as some design choices and UX elements will be seen in future versions of Android. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich takes some of Honeycomb’s ideas more specifically and makes them compatible with more devices.
Honeycomb’s failure can be seen as a “chicken and egg” scenario. It didn’t work because the Android tablets at the time were bad. Still, the operating system had issues and didn’t support Flash. Subsequent Android 3.1 and 3.2 updates attempted to fix some of these issues, but by that time the cause was gone. So was the biggest cause of early Android tablet failures a bad tablet or a disastrous update? We may never know, but nevertheless, at least for now, Android 3.0 has gained notoriety as the worst Android version ever.
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Android Police Honorable Mention List
The Android Police team debated long and hard to arrive at this final list. As a result, here are some honorable mentions. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich almost earned a spot here due to some weird performance issues on older devices. We thought the Android 10 update was boring, and were saddened that the official dessert name for the Android version no longer appeared upon its release. Android 7.0 Nougat isn’t remembered very well here due to its terrible performance on the Nexus 6.
What’s next for Android?
Now, I have two questions. What will be the next Android update to join these ranks? And what features are hidden inside Android 15 that will prevent this update from joining the list of worse versions of Android? Is it?
