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Who else has a smartphone "stuck" on a older Android OS? My phone is still using an older Android version - unable to upgrade any further, or receive security

Who else has a smartphone "stuck" on a older Android OS? My phone is still using an older Android version - unable to upgrade any further, or receive security updates. Before you recoil in horror, consider the following: the phone is in perfectly working order, it has an excellent screen and camera, it's fast for my needs. The real horror is that millions of perfectly fine smartphones are sent to landfill because these little pocket super-computers with amazing hardware can no longer be upgraded by software. Is this a embarrassing wasteful state of affairs? Or the price of "progress" on the hardware upgrade treadmill?

jmercan 4y ago
On top of your point, I think people should also understand that smartphones aren't exactly a small purchase for a non-trivial population. Even tech-literate are stuck with the stock ROM if they need to use banking apps, snapchat etc. because of SafetyNet. Despite getting a lot of crap online, it looks like iPhones actually do better when it comes to shipping security updates to old phones? [1] I am not sure but if that is really the case, I think I'll switch to one for my next phone. [1]: https://endoflife.date/iphone https://endoflife.date/iphone
- solarkraft 4y ago
  Apple does a much better job. My Note 10, released in 2019, is officially close to its EOL (last year of life support, i.e. security fixes) - and it was a big step forward for Samsung to ever even give such guarantees. The iPhone X, released in 2017, still gets new versions of iOS. Even phones that have long been dropped from new iOS releases still get security fixes for a long, long time. I hate Apple for some things and even they could probably do better, but they're incredibly far ahead here (now if only the devices were more repairable).
solarkraft 4y ago
It's absolutely terrible. Even on custom ROMs, which can extend the life of a phone quite a lot, the latest wave of obsolescence comes from Android dropping support for old, of course un-updatable kernels. It's absolutely not the price of progress, it's the price manufacturers not caring (why would they? people have already bought the device and they'll buy more short-lived devices) and there being no legislation to make them care. With mainline kernels many phones that are a decade old would be perfectly usable today.
interestica 4y ago
Yeah, my Galaxy Note 8 is the pinnacle of usability and design for me but it's been left behind by updates. Remapping the Bixby button + MacroDroid + Nova home screen is just a perfect balance of usability and customizability. Samsung Dex is a pretty useful Android desktop environment for on the go work. I would have loved if the if the same form factor just got upgraded hardware (the camera is now outdated). It's a bit of a zombie phone for me at this point (a true ship of theseus - I'm not sure if I can say I have the same phone anymore). I've since picked up an iPhone as a replacement but am really missing the old features -- so much so that I've been running them both concurrently. It would be such a waste to get rid of an incredibly capable phone with a still-amazing screen.
kunagi7 4y ago
I still run an old tablet with 5.1, and a phone with 7.1. I've seen 10 year old iPads running on the wild, albeit for basic tasks. Still, this situation makes me quite sad. Why I can't easily update my phone OS like I do with my Linux desktops and servers? Things like the /e/ foundation or Lineage OS are great but still have a lot of limitations. Mostly due to closed source drivers that mobile phone makers use. Even if both of them have hundreds or thousands of CVEs there is nothing I can do since security fixes won't be backported. I use AOSP with the minimal applications required for their "job", that means, mostly F-Droid applications and no gapps/vendor apps. Until their batteries die, I will keep them around. I won't throw away a perfectly working device. Most mobile applications still target Android 7 and work perfectly. My phone has a good camera, battery still lasts 3 days, Internet browsing is fast enough and WiFi, LTE/4G reception work great too. Still, watching the mayhem Android 12 and beyond (Material You) has become, maybe my next phone will be an iOS device.

jmercan 4y ago

On top of your point, I think people should also understand that smartphones aren't exactly a small purchase for a non-trivial population. Even tech-literate are stuck with the stock ROM if they need to use banking apps, snapchat etc. because of SafetyNet. Despite getting a lot of crap online, it looks like iPhones actually do better when it comes to shipping security updates to old phones? [1] I am not sure but if that is really the case, I think I'll switch to one for my next phone. [1]: https://endoflife.date/iphone https://endoflife.date/iphone

solarkraft 4y ago
Apple does a much better job. My Note 10, released in 2019, is officially close to its EOL (last year of life support, i.e. security fixes) - and it was a big step forward for Samsung to ever even give such guarantees. The iPhone X, released in 2017, still gets new versions of iOS. Even phones that have long been dropped from new iOS releases still get security fixes for a long, long time. I hate Apple for some things and even they could probably do better, but they're incredibly far ahead here (now if only the devices were more repairable).

solarkraft 4y ago

It's absolutely terrible. Even on custom ROMs, which can extend the life of a phone quite a lot, the latest wave of obsolescence comes from Android dropping support for old, of course un-updatable kernels. It's absolutely not the price of progress, it's the price manufacturers not caring (why would they? people have already bought the device and they'll buy more short-lived devices) and there being no legislation to make them care. With mainline kernels many phones that are a decade old would be perfectly usable today.

interestica 4y ago

Yeah, my Galaxy Note 8 is the pinnacle of usability and design for me but it's been left behind by updates. Remapping the Bixby button + MacroDroid + Nova home screen is just a perfect balance of usability and customizability. Samsung Dex is a pretty useful Android desktop environment for on the go work. I would have loved if the if the same form factor just got upgraded hardware (the camera is now outdated). It's a bit of a zombie phone for me at this point (a true ship of theseus - I'm not sure if I can say I have the same phone anymore). I've since picked up an iPhone as a replacement but am really missing the old features -- so much so that I've been running them both concurrently. It would be such a waste to get rid of an incredibly capable phone with a still-amazing screen.

kunagi7 4y ago

I still run an old tablet with 5.1, and a phone with 7.1. I've seen 10 year old iPads running on the wild, albeit for basic tasks. Still, this situation makes me quite sad. Why I can't easily update my phone OS like I do with my Linux desktops and servers? Things like the /e/ foundation or Lineage OS are great but still have a lot of limitations. Mostly due to closed source drivers that mobile phone makers use. Even if both of them have hundreds or thousands of CVEs there is nothing I can do since security fixes won't be backported. I use AOSP with the minimal applications required for their "job", that means, mostly F-Droid applications and no gapps/vendor apps. Until their batteries die, I will keep them around. I won't throw away a perfectly working device. Most mobile applications still target Android 7 and work perfectly. My phone has a good camera, battery still lasts 3 days, Internet browsing is fast enough and WiFi, LTE/4G reception work great too. Still, watching the mayhem Android 12 and beyond (Material You) has become, maybe my next phone will be an iOS device.