I have an old HTC Inspire (circa 2011) I still use in my kitchen to control a stereo system. I'm shocked anything on it still works. It's probably a terrible security vulnerability I should throw away.
There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use
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Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use
#32Does this seem like a trend that goes beyond just tech products? Clothes, appliances, furniture (with fiberboard) all seem to have lower longevity today, whether it's from lacking updates/service or just lacking durability.
Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use
#33> If we look at the newest Android release (8.0, 8/2017), it looks like you’re quite lucky if you have a two year old device that will get the latest update. The oldest “Google” phone supported is the Nexus 6P (9/2015), giving it just under two years of support. And 2 years is the best-case scenario. Compare to nearly 5 years for iOS devices (which, as far as I can tell was prompted only by a move to 64-bit SoC). It'…
My Nexus 6P is eligible for 8.0 under the beta program, the last time I checked, 8.0 was still not available for it in the official channel so I had to switch to the beta program to try out 8.0 on a device.
Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use
#34I've got a 7 or 8 year old Google Nexus phone. Google stopped updating the OS 5 years ago. The only impact I've noticed is that newer apps won't run on and older OS. For me, however, that really isn't a problem since I use it for making and receiving calls and texts, and checking my email. Right now, I'm in no hurry to lay out hundreds for a new phone, Apple or Android, that will be obsoleted in just a couple years w…
The problem that you don't notice is the lack of security updates.
Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use
#35I've got a 7 or 8 year old Google Nexus phone. Google stopped updating the OS 5 years ago. The only impact I've noticed is that newer apps won't run on and older OS. For me, however, that really isn't a problem since I use it for making and receiving calls and texts, and checking my email. Right now, I'm in no hurry to lay out hundreds for a new phone, Apple or Android, that will be obsoleted in just a couple years w…
> I've got a 7 or 8 year old Google Nexus phone.
There's probably an Android O ROM out there that someone on XDA has compiled for your device.
Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use
#36Having to wait and sometimes pray for your vendor to ship an update is why I chose to stick to the Nexus line of phones until it ended. My next device may or may not be a Pixel, but the above coupled with the shitty "value adds" like custom file managers and stuff that Samsung et al tend to cram into their already bloated Android implementations pretty much guarantees I'll never by a Samsung or similar. My wife's Gal…
As a long time Nexus user (back to Nexus S), the clean OS and updates were always the selling points for me. With Pixel now dropping the headphone jack, I'm starting to look elsewhere. Here's hoping I get some more life yet out of my 5X.
Looking at Android One devices for the spiritual successor of the utilitarian Nexus 5. No headphone jack is a dealbreaker.
Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use
#37I've got a 7 or 8 year old Google Nexus phone. Google stopped updating the OS 5 years ago. The only impact I've noticed is that newer apps won't run on and older OS. For me, however, that really isn't a problem since I use it for making and receiving calls and texts, and checking my email. Right now, I'm in no hurry to lay out hundreds for a new phone, Apple or Android, that will be obsoleted in just a couple years w…
I've got a Samsung S4 laying around that I hadn't used for years (it's 4 1/2 years old). Recently I fired it up just to check some things. As expected, it still runs beautifully for normal Web use across all sites. Other than the small form factor (which some people may prefer), it's easy to see how consumers might stick to older phones.
I'm tempted to dust my old Aviator off and repurpose it as a gba emulator or something.
Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, I think user apathy has to be a big part of it. I have a 2012 iPhone5 with iOS 6.1.3 still on it. I never upgraded it. When iOS 7 came out, all the news reports said it killed the battery. Same with iOS 8, 9, and finally iOS X. Yes, I assume that eventually, iOS point release 7.x.x fixed the battery issue but I don't care to keep visiting news websites to figure out which exact version is finally "safe" to upgra…
It doesn't help that "upgrading" an iOS device is a one-way ticket. Religiously updating the original iPad effectively bricked it (not literally, but to all intents and purposes) years ahead of its natural lifetime, due to one particular major release that killed performance, reliability and battery life in one fell swoop. If there no going back, why would you risk going forward?
Security fixes, new features, etc.?
Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use
#39I've got a 7 or 8 year old Google Nexus phone. Google stopped updating the OS 5 years ago. The only impact I've noticed is that newer apps won't run on and older OS. For me, however, that really isn't a problem since I use it for making and receiving calls and texts, and checking my email. Right now, I'm in no hurry to lay out hundreds for a new phone, Apple or Android, that will be obsoleted in just a couple years w…
The only impact?
You are a walking vulnerability. KRACK, Blueborne, just to name a few recently highly publicized vulnerabilities.
You are like the perfect exploit, just waiting to get pwned. You are, Bill Harper.
Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use
#40The most effective way to solve this is to write a set of exploits that work on most devices. Then brick all the phones that are vulnerable. Surely not nice, but users suddenly got cured of their complete apathy towards mobile phones.
That's not a solution, that is an exploitation of the problem.
The problem is that there are security holes that cannot be patched in the first place. There is no technical reason that for that to be the case, simply an arbitrary one: Manufacturers do not allow users to unlock the bootloader on devices they sell.