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When an Android device stops getting official updates, you can unlock the bootloader and install LineageOS or something to keep getting community updates indefi

When an Android device stops getting official updates, you can unlock the bootloader and install LineageOS or something to keep getting community updates indefinitely. Apple goes out of their way to keep you from being able to do that on an iOS device.

rchowe 3y ago
I think many more people are going to use the vendor-supported updates than jailbreak their device.
- Zak 3y ago
  Unlocking the bootloader on many Android devices is not a jailbreak; it's officially supported to varying degrees, though Google also has official support for helping apps sabotage users' ability to run them on unlocked devices so it's a bit of a mixed bag. Ultimately, it's easy and reliable enough for someone who's interested in tech and likes to tinker, but I cannot recommend it for (to use the canonical example) my mother.
danaos 3y ago
LinageOS is sadly available only on the most popular devices.
- nicoburns 3y ago
  To be fair, that almost certainly include Apple devices if installing 3rd party OS's would supported. Especially as the Asahi Linux project for macs has already done a lot of the hard work.
- josephcsible 3y ago
  https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/ https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/ looks like it's hundreds of devices.
  - Zak 3y ago
    It's hundreds of devices that have been supported at some point. It's far fewer that have official builds of the current version. The Pixel 3 line (2019) for example, doesn't have builds of LineageOS 20 (Android 13), though there are still updates for the LineageOS 19 (Android 12) builds.
- realusername 3y ago
  I currently have a Galaxy S5 running Android 13 in front of me and it's as snappy as a modern device just bought from the store. The camera is of course the biggest drawback but apart from that, everything is fine.
  - hutzlibu 3y ago
    Did you say this to support parents argument? The Galaxy S5 was one of the most popular phones and I especially bought it some years ago, because LineageOS support was supposed to be good. And it did run kind of ok, but certainly not "as snappy as a modern device just bought from the store".
    - realusername 3y ago
      The S5 is certainly not a popular phone in 2023 anymore, it's close to 10 years old. And no, it does run as snappy as a modern device with the latest Android flashed to it, I can make a video if you don't believe me. Ironically it's even faster now in Android 13 than it ever was during its prime era.
      - kaba0 3y ago
        We are talking about old devices, and you brought up a former flagship from the biggest android manufacturer. You definitely would have much less luck with a random huawei.
        realusername 3y ago
        Sure, it's a former flagship but it's also an old device at almost a decade old
      - hutzlibu 3y ago
        I have one lying around with LineageOS. It is not snappy by any metric, that I would use. Otherwise it would be still in use.
ninth_ant 3y ago
Given that "other" marketshare is consistently measured to be less than 1% of usage observed in the wild -- and LineageOS would be a fraction of that -- I think this is safe to say is not quite relevant to actual consumer behaviour.
- realusername 3y ago
  You can't force people to reuse old phones, you can only make laws to make it possible
  - gavaw 3y ago
    Of course you can: you can tax phones until most people can't buy new ones. That's what will happen once these laws are imposed and people keep buying new phones because they don't give a fuck. 100% democratic!
    - realusername 3y ago
      That's kind of what is done in France as well actually, there's some subside for repairs and I'm pretty sure the money is taken from a tax on new phones. That's not too significant yet but I'm expecting the amounts to increase
CrampusDestrus 3y ago
>you can unlock the bootloader on a laughably small subset of devices >and install LineageOS or something to keep getting community updates indefinitely. false and only partially true for an even smaller subset of devices
- realusername 3y ago
  A lot of devices have unlockable bootloaders, including a lot of the newest flagships, that one isn't really true. For the lineageos support, you usually need to wait a bit but that's not really an issue since it's likely the manufacturer is still making updates while the device is pending support.

rchowe 3y ago

I think many more people are going to use the vendor-supported updates than jailbreak their device.

Zak 3y ago
Unlocking the bootloader on many Android devices is not a jailbreak; it's officially supported to varying degrees, though Google also has official support for helping apps sabotage users' ability to run them on unlocked devices so it's a bit of a mixed bag. Ultimately, it's easy and reliable enough for someone who's interested in tech and likes to tinker, but I cannot recommend it for (to use the canonical example) my mother.

danaos 3y ago

LinageOS is sadly available only on the most popular devices.

nicoburns 3y ago
To be fair, that almost certainly include Apple devices if installing 3rd party OS's would supported. Especially as the Asahi Linux project for macs has already done a lot of the hard work.
josephcsible 3y ago
https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/ https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/ looks like it's hundreds of devices.
- Zak 3y ago
  It's hundreds of devices that have been supported at some point. It's far fewer that have official builds of the current version. The Pixel 3 line (2019) for example, doesn't have builds of LineageOS 20 (Android 13), though there are still updates for the LineageOS 19 (Android 12) builds.
realusername 3y ago
I currently have a Galaxy S5 running Android 13 in front of me and it's as snappy as a modern device just bought from the store. The camera is of course the biggest drawback but apart from that, everything is fine.
- hutzlibu 3y ago
  Did you say this to support parents argument? The Galaxy S5 was one of the most popular phones and I especially bought it some years ago, because LineageOS support was supposed to be good. And it did run kind of ok, but certainly not "as snappy as a modern device just bought from the store".
  - realusername 3y ago
    The S5 is certainly not a popular phone in 2023 anymore, it's close to 10 years old. And no, it does run as snappy as a modern device with the latest Android flashed to it, I can make a video if you don't believe me. Ironically it's even faster now in Android 13 than it ever was during its prime era.
    - kaba0 3y ago
      We are talking about old devices, and you brought up a former flagship from the biggest android manufacturer. You definitely would have much less luck with a random huawei.
      - realusername 3y ago
        Sure, it's a former flagship but it's also an old device at almost a decade old
    - hutzlibu 3y ago
      I have one lying around with LineageOS. It is not snappy by any metric, that I would use. Otherwise it would be still in use.

ninth_ant 3y ago

Given that "other" marketshare is consistently measured to be less than 1% of usage observed in the wild -- and LineageOS would be a fraction of that -- I think this is safe to say is not quite relevant to actual consumer behaviour.

realusername 3y ago
You can't force people to reuse old phones, you can only make laws to make it possible
- gavaw 3y ago
  Of course you can: you can tax phones until most people can't buy new ones. That's what will happen once these laws are imposed and people keep buying new phones because they don't give a fuck. 100% democratic!
  - realusername 3y ago
    That's kind of what is done in France as well actually, there's some subside for repairs and I'm pretty sure the money is taken from a tax on new phones. That's not too significant yet but I'm expecting the amounts to increase

CrampusDestrus 3y ago

>you can unlock the bootloader on a laughably small subset of devices >and install LineageOS or something to keep getting community updates indefinitely. false and only partially true for an even smaller subset of devices

realusername 3y ago
A lot of devices have unlockable bootloaders, including a lot of the newest flagships, that one isn't really true. For the lineageos support, you usually need to wait a bit but that's not really an issue since it's likely the manufacturer is still making updates while the device is pending support.