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There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use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Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#61

Post by inetknght »

shp0ngle wrote: post #57
userbinator wrote: post #48

With current and older devices working perfectly well, and new devices being even less serviceable and more user-hostile with greater efforts towards planned obolescence, is it any wonder that people just aren't "upgrading" any more? I don't consider this a problem, but a sign of an ecosystem that is gaining stability. In fact I'd say it's even better, from an e-waste perspective, that the amount of churn has decreas…

Security, basically. If you care about your privacy, you should care about security (can't have one with the other). You need updated phone for that.

On the other hand, if you care about privacy, then not updating your apps often helps too.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#62

Post by scribu »

SteveGregory wrote: post #32

Does 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.

I would certainly be interested to read a comparative analysis of service lifetimes of various appliances, as long as it’s backed by hard data.

Otherwise, it’s just survivorship bias: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias

Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#63

Post by userbinator »

opportune wrote: post #12

The flipside of this is that developers are forced to support versions of their apps that are compatible with previous operating systems. That's bad for developers, but good for consumers. iPhones shove updates down your throat as a user. They're so persistent that inevitably most people will accept the new update - and even if you're stubborn like me, eventually your apps will no longer be supported under the newer…

That's bad for developers, but good for consumers.

Is it? I'm a developer --- and a consumer, as are most --- and have always kept to the principle of as much compatibility as possible, mostly by not gorging on new features for the sake of new features, and a "do what you can with what you have" approach. To me, spending a little extra effort to get much more compatibility is well worth it, since I've been on "the other side" and know the horrible experience of not being able to use something just because the developer didn't bother to think about anything but the "new and shiny"; that seems to be something a lot of developers completely ignore or even oppose.

Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#64

Post by thatswrong0 »

opportune wrote: post #12

The flipside of this is that developers are forced to support versions of their apps that are compatible with previous operating systems. That's bad for developers, but good for consumers. iPhones shove updates down your throat as a user. They're so persistent that inevitably most people will accept the new update - and even if you're stubborn like me, eventually your apps will no longer be supported under the newer…

Making it easier for users to run software with unpatched vulnerabilities, even accounting for some extra slowness, isn’t a good thing..

Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#65

Post by dmitrygr »

yegle wrote: post #60
dmitrygr wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

did you see the new AndroidOne phones? google does updates for them and they are quite affordable. The Moto one is $400-ish and Xiaomi is $200-ish

The Moto X4 sell at $400 and the Xiaomi A1 is not available in US yet (you can get it ~$220 on some website). Note Xiaomi A1's system update is not handled by Google according to Wiki.

You're right about Moto. Ill fix my post. Can you send me a link to this source for A1? I'll try to check on it.

Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#66

Post by kuschku »

shp0ngle wrote: post #57
userbinator wrote: post #48

With current and older devices working perfectly well, and new devices being even less serviceable and more user-hostile with greater efforts towards planned obolescence, is it any wonder that people just aren't "upgrading" any more? I don't consider this a problem, but a sign of an ecosystem that is gaining stability. In fact I'd say it's even better, from an e-waste perspective, that the amount of churn has decreas…

Security, basically. If you care about your privacy, you should care about security (can't have one with the other). You need updated phone for that.

Well, that's not a real issue, is it? It's purely a decision from the manufacturers to be assholes to their customers. There is no technical need that'd prevent them from creating updates. Especially Samsung (which also produces the SoC in-house for all relevant markets).

Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#67

Post by userbinator »

shp0ngle wrote: post #57
userbinator wrote: post #48

With current and older devices working perfectly well, and new devices being even less serviceable and more user-hostile with greater efforts towards planned obolescence, is it any wonder that people just aren't "upgrading" any more? I don't consider this a problem, but a sign of an ecosystem that is gaining stability. In fact I'd say it's even better, from an e-waste perspective, that the amount of churn has decreas…

Security, basically. If you care about your privacy, you should care about security (can't have one with the other). You need updated phone for that.

I have a rooted device, so I can basically make apps do what I want and stop them from doing what I don't want. IMHO that's far better than Google's vision of "security" where they want to be in control and even consider the user an attacker.

Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#68

Post by murderfs »

2-4-Flinching wrote: post #39
sizzzzlerz wrote: post #19

I'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.

KRACK is essentially irrelevant, the security models of the OS and any sane applications will assume that the network is compromised (e.g. starbucks wifi).

Blueborne on the other hand, is very scary.

Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#69

Post by userbinator »

ekianjo wrote: post #53
saagarjha wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Hosted on a dubious server with no guarantee at all there is no malware in it.

I trust the community on XDA composed of actual users and developers who are also users, more than the faceless corporation whose profit largely comes from extracting as much of your personal information as possible and monetising it.

Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#70

Post by VintageCool »

pasbesoin wrote: post #22
ruytlm wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Make sure you are regularly backed up. Anecdote, but I bootlooped -- that's with quite gentle care. Friend bootlooped a couple of weeks later.

My 5X bootlooped, so I bought a Pixel. I want to go back to the 5X, that was the best phone I've ever had.
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