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Oof yeah, if you're running an Android version that old I would not expect much to work that relies on Google services. That said if you're out of the country

Oof yeah, if you're running an Android version that old I would not expect much to work that relies on Google services. That said if you're out of the country a lot and going the SMS auth route, I'd personally be more comfortable with a postpaid plan in AUS for the SIM as the telcos tend to take ID requirements more seriously for those then pre-paids and you're less likely to be socially engineered out of your number.

chrismorgan 6y ago
“That old”, and yet the phone’s not even three years old (my instance of the model, that is; the model was at that point two years old and is thus now five years old). Sigh. I said prepaid, but as I did it it’s actually postpaid but with an initial $10 prepayment required. Ah, good times back in 2014–2017, getting those bills for less than a dollar (commonly 12¢) every quarter. Then I moved to a tiny country town where an Optus tower a few hundred metres away became my best option for internet, 50/25Mbps and far more solid than any NBN anecdote I’ve heard.
- wasmitnetzen 6y ago
  > the phone’s not even three years old Well, Android 5.1 was EOL in 2015, so you willingly bought an unsupported model. I'm not saying Android has any sensible long-term support (in fact, I spent the last weekend installing LineageOS because my 2018 phone doesn't have support anymore), but this instance is hardly Google's fault.
  - gibspaulding 6y ago
    > you willingly bought an unsupported model I think most people on HN are comfortable doing a bit of research to see when a device will stop receiving support, but I don't think that's reasonable to expect from everyone. If I walk into a shop and buy a phone, new in the box, it seems pretty reasonable to assume that it's operating system will work with whatever apps I install from it's built in store, and that it will receive security patches for at least a few years. That seems to me like a pretty low bar, but it's absolutely not the case in the Android ecosystem.
- dbetteridge 6y ago
  Yeah the unfortunate situation of Android devices means that you may have only just bought the phone but if it isn't supported you could be running a very old OS version. In this case I think Android 5 was 2014, so almost 7 years old a this point. Amaysim are pretty good, Though if you can convince them to add a security note to your account its worth it (Colleague of mine had his mobile number hijacked while on holiday and they used it to access a few of his online accounts)

chrismorgan 6y ago

“That old”, and yet the phone’s not even three years old (my instance of the model, that is; the model was at that point two years old and is thus now five years old). Sigh. I said prepaid, but as I did it it’s actually postpaid but with an initial $10 prepayment required. Ah, good times back in 2014–2017, getting those bills for less than a dollar (commonly 12¢) every quarter. Then I moved to a tiny country town where an Optus tower a few hundred metres away became my best option for internet, 50/25Mbps and far more solid than any NBN anecdote I’ve heard.

wasmitnetzen 6y ago
> the phone’s not even three years old Well, Android 5.1 was EOL in 2015, so you willingly bought an unsupported model. I'm not saying Android has any sensible long-term support (in fact, I spent the last weekend installing LineageOS because my 2018 phone doesn't have support anymore), but this instance is hardly Google's fault.
- gibspaulding 6y ago
  > you willingly bought an unsupported model I think most people on HN are comfortable doing a bit of research to see when a device will stop receiving support, but I don't think that's reasonable to expect from everyone. If I walk into a shop and buy a phone, new in the box, it seems pretty reasonable to assume that it's operating system will work with whatever apps I install from it's built in store, and that it will receive security patches for at least a few years. That seems to me like a pretty low bar, but it's absolutely not the case in the Android ecosystem.
dbetteridge 6y ago
Yeah the unfortunate situation of Android devices means that you may have only just bought the phone but if it isn't supported you could be running a very old OS version. In this case I think Android 5 was 2014, so almost 7 years old a this point. Amaysim are pretty good, Though if you can convince them to add a security note to your account its worth it (Colleague of mine had his mobile number hijacked while on holiday and they used it to access a few of his online accounts)