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There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

danluu.com

251–260 of 474 posts

Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#251

Love the HN crowd here explaining that staying still on old tech full of security holes is a-ok. :) Both Android and iOS have made awesome progress on all fronts, from security to stuff like AR and ML. You can now have a supercomputer in your pocket - just using it for phone/texts is such a waste.

Some of us just don't care that much about the newest fastest shiniest thing, or if we do, we care more about all the money spent and/or physical waste that goes into churning through devices all the time.

If companies are dropping support after two years and forcing users to buy a new device or face major security issues, I say the complaints shouldn't be directed at the users not constantly buying new devices, but at the companies creating devices with such a short planned obsolescence.

Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#252
post #239
post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> iPhones shove updates down your throat as a user. And we have the monster that was Windows XP because of users thinking "updates" are "forced" down throats. iOS is correctly celebrated for having such a high adoption of the "latest and greatest", and certainly hasn't become the demon that is the unpatched Android landscape. So thankfully, from NetSec to the end user, it's a fantastic thing that iOS keeps devices mo…

I agree, but it is true that newer updates dramatically slow down older hardware.

Backup, wipe, and reinstall.

Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#253
post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should install security updates. Period. You don't help anyone by feeling better because instead of having the vendor maybe sniff on you, a hacker can do it instead. I also haven't found any apps yet that intentionally waste my monthly datacap.

Sure, and I didn't advocate doing otherwise. My point is the larger context - there is no "secure" on mobile. Likewise, my point about losing a datacap was that it was preferable to having more personal info backhauled into commercial surveillance databases. It's not an either-or and I'm not desiring either one - just calling attention to the larger context of user-security versus the myopia of marketing/corporate se…

As another comment mentions; security is not binary.

Binary Security is a sign you failed at security. You can be not secure at all, somewhat secure, etc, against a set of threat models or anywhere in between those steps.

Whether or not you have properly prepared against a threat model and you are confident in defending against it is a binary property (or rather, two binary properties) but the underlying security is not.

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

#254

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.

Might by survivorship bias. You only remember old furniture that survived long enough for you to see it...

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

#255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I, like the parent poster, am running the latest update for my phone. Yes, I know I'm a walking vulnerability, but short of purchasing a new phone, there is nothing I can do about it. IIRC, updates for my device were cut off before it was even out of warranty , and I'm sorry, I'm not dropping — I can't drop — $600 every year and a half on new hardware just to get new software. Vendors need to support devices for the…

You don't have to drop $600 every year and a half. Which would only be $34 a month over that period. You can drop $600 every 3 years with google devices and have monthly security updates. You could save $17 every month for that 3 year time to buy the next phone. If you want to stay secure you will, if it not a priority you wont.

Except Google stopped selling $600 devices.

The Pixels are incredibly overpriced given the hardware. I bought a Nexus 6P when they got under $400 and I honestly don't know what I'll do a year from now.

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

#256

Love the HN crowd here explaining that staying still on old tech full of security holes is a-ok. :) Both Android and iOS have made awesome progress on all fronts, from security to stuff like AR and ML. You can now have a supercomputer in your pocket - just using it for phone/texts is such a waste.

> Love the HN crowd here explaining that staying still on old tech full of security holes is a-ok. :) It’s disheartening when a forum full of supposed tech enthusiasts starts to morph into a bunch of paranoid tech Luddites. That is what, imho, killed slashdot. Every post was full of comments slamming anything new. Eventually it just got toxic and boring. Who wants to hear a bunch of paranoid outliers brag about their…

Almost nobody is slamming new things. They're slamming the OS update process. And it very much deserves it. It's not a criticism of the new versions themselves.

And keeping up with tech doesn't require constant purchases. You're not a Luddite because you use something for more than three years, for crying out loud.

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

#257
post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, but it is true that newer updates dramatically slow down older hardware.

Backup, wipe, and reinstall.

In some cases it doesn't help. E.g. iOS 7 update for iPad2, iPhone 4/4S etc.

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

#258
post #26
post #20

Earlier 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?

My iPad 2 is still actively in use on iOS7 (it was better on iOS6) and I was using iPhone 4S with iOS6 until the end of last year. Many other people reported bad degradation on iOS8/9.

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

#259
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm. It's all Google's fault. I don't have to wait for the manufacturer to update my Windows PC. Heck I was able to install Windows 7 on a Mac Mini without any support from Apple. Not to mention I updated a 9 year old Dell Core 2 Duo to Windows 10.

Windows has mostly kept a stable driver API. And whenever they broke that API, that actually happened — suddenly updates stopped being usable by your system. Also, be aware that ARM has nothing to enumerate devices, has no BISO or UEFI. An OS image will only ever work on a single device. As I detailed in another comment in this thread, the issue is this collision of the Linux concept of mainlining everything, short s…

Still, Google could impose update requirements for Play Store access, for example.

Regardless of stable driver API or not, it is up to the OEMs to make it happen, if they actually cared about it.

I am pretty negative about Project Treble, it won't change anything, because only Oreo devices have it (0.3% currently) and OEMs are still expected to be the ones pushing the updates.

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

#260

Love the HN crowd here explaining that staying still on old tech full of security holes is a-ok. :) Both Android and iOS have made awesome progress on all fronts, from security to stuff like AR and ML. You can now have a supercomputer in your pocket - just using it for phone/texts is such a waste.

I have better things in life to spend 600 € on, a mobile phone isn't one of them.
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