02 Dec 2015 at 11:17 | By Sarah Evans
Part 2 - Operating System updates
So last week we told you about how certification and standards impact us. Today I’ll walk you through how Operating System (OS) updates impact us here at the Semble Lab.
While it’s great for a consumer to get the latest and greatest software on their Android device, it requires significant work from the Semble Team to keep up with them all. Let me explain. An Android OS software release contains multiple components: from the base Android OS, to phone manufacturer (Samsung, HTC, Huawei. LG, Sony) and Mobile Network Operator (2degrees, Spark, Vodafone) specific builds. Each of these can impact the NFC contactless behaviour of the phone.
Because Semble stores all your sensitive information on the SIM card, we have to make sure that any changes to the software doesn’t affect the way the phone communicates with the SIM card or the contactless terminal/reader. Basically we need to make sure it still works and it won’t appear on our website as a compatible device until we’re sure it does.
Phones that have been parallel imported, or were never sold in New Zealand to begin with, can get completely different software packages that alter the phone behaviour. If this happens, Semble can’t go to the mobile network operators in other countries and ask them to correct the software on that particular phone. If you purchased your phone from 2degrees, Spark or Vodafone though we can easily sort this. With strong, established relationships in place with the phone manufacturers locally, we also get early access to these local software updates and test them before they are pushed out to your phone.
As you can imagine, with OS updates occurring frequently it is labour intensive work but necessary to keep Semble safe, secure and convenient.
If you’re keen to know why phones like Nexus aren’t currently compatible with Semble, stay tuned for next week’s blog on SIM card communication.
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