ITCOMO

The Phone Maker and Wireless Carrier steps shown in red above is where those updates, including critical security updates, languish and often die. Phones that have not reached end of life (more on this below) may receive these updates or they may not. Even if they do, those updates can sometimes take months to make its way through the update chain and onto your phone.

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Google's Pixel-branded phones are the only exception. For the unlocked model there is no carrier interference in the update process. For Android fans, if timely updates are important to you, and they should be, the unlocked Pixel-branded phones are the only phones to buy. New versions of Android may require cooperation from the chipset manufacturer to write and update device drivers and that often doesn't happen. So you while your Pixel-branded phone might get timely updates for the current version of Android, it might not be upgradable to the next version. This helps for security but does little for the overall Android fragmentation problem discussed below.

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It's not that Android itself is necessarily less secure although there is some discussion there. The problem is lack of updates. On the present course, there will eventually be an Android security armageddon. A day of reckoning where the sloppy practices of today will bite the entire Android ecosystem on its ass, unless phone makers and carriers decide to embrace proper security update protocols. They may yet do that if their survival instinct ever kicks in. But so far they haven't not and there's little indication that will change any time soon. C-Suite executives rarely give security concerns proper attention.

Apple is very different in this regard. Since Apple both manufactures their devices and develops the OS, they have total control and are able to deploy security fixes whenever necessary -- without needing (much) cooperation from phone makers and wireless carriers. This is a critical advantage to iPhone (and iPad). It's enough of a reason all by itself to avoid Android in favor of iPhone -- unless, as mentioned above, you buy an unlocked Pixel-branded phone.

What kind of malware might infect my phone as a result?

Malware can be designed to do any number of nefarious tasks: Pilfer your passwords, steal sensitive data, add your device to a botnet, track everything you do including recording your phone calls, text messages, track your location using the GPS receiver, spread to other devices using yours as a springboard (Typhoid Mary), "brick" your phone by overwriting the phone's firmware, encrypt your data (ransomware), and really any number of other things of the bad actor's choosing.

Fragmentation -- A big problem you've never heard of

Fragmentation is when there are multiple hardware and/or software versions and inconsistencies in the installed user base (people with phones). As of this writing, the Android ecosystem has over 20,000(!) distinct device models (hardware) across many dozens or possibly hundreds of brands. And there's numerous versions of Android (software) as well, making for even more distinct combinations. This too, aggravates timely deployment of updates because of the QC (Quality Control) needed to ensure patches don't break something else.

Fragmentation also makes it difficult for developers to take advantage of hardware features that aren't common. It's one of the biggest complaints that developers have regarding the Android ecosystem. That means if your shiny new Android phone has a relatively uncommon hardware feature (that you may particularly like) there's a good chance that feature won't be fully realized to its potential.

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Again, here is where Apple is very different. As of this writing, Apple has released only a few dozen iPhone models (even accounting for various amounts of memory) since its introduction way back in 2007. And when iOS is upgraded, the rate of uptake to already-sold iPhones is nearly universal. This lack of fragmentation makes it easier to develop for the Apple ecosystem since developers can expect certain hardware features to be present and for most Apple devices to be on the latest iOS version. For example, all iPhones from the 5S onward have a fingerprint sensor. (*) This also makes it easier for Apple and developers to update and support older devices.

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* The new full-screen iPhone eliminates the home button which housed the fingerprint sensor in earlier models. Instead, these models employ facial recognition using a new advanced camera. But app-writers don't have to worry about that as it's handled by the operating system.