4 ms·
Agreed, placing all the blame on Google is not fair. Besides Google, carriers, and manufactures, there's one more party involved that no one seems to talk abou
by slacka 12y ago
Agreed, placing all the blame on Google is not fair. Besides Google, carriers, and manufactures, there's one more party involved that no one seems to talk about, users. Google only promises to update their software for 18 months. If you're going to milk years and years out of your smartphone, don't you have some responsibly to update outdated apps with updated ones from the Google Play store?
I have an old Galaxy S3 that Samsung no longer updates, yet these bugs don't effect me because I've replaced the built in browser with Chrome, which still receives regular security updates. What's stopping users of old phones from installing Chrome or Firefox?
- ufmace 12y agoSome truth to that, but replacing your web browser doesn't actually fix the bug entirely. The problem is that the WebView elements inside applications still use the vulnerable Android Browser to display content. You can't change that behavior or update the Android Browser without an OTA update of the whole OS.
- slacka 12y agoTrue, but you have to download the malicious app from the app store. Here Google has a good track record of removing them from their store. Also, the user can exercise some common sense by not installing apps from untrusted sources. If the users does not pay attention to the app's permissions, any app could be harmful without needing a browser exploit.
- joev_ 12y agoOut of curiosity, did you actually replace the Browser app, or did you just install a new one? If the stock Browser is still installed, you may consider the fact that it can probably be launched from Chrome with a specific URL intent.