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There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

danluu.com

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Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#361

Post by joelthelion »

Rotareti wrote: post #290
joelthelion wrote: post #268

That's why I only buy phones that are supported by LineageOS (usually second hand). Not ideal, but it's the best I've found so far. I guess paying $150 for a fully up-to-date phone that was worth $700 just two years ago isn't such a bad deal.

The last time I tried to install LineageOS on my phone I had to execute a non-reproducible binary of some anonymous haxxor to flash the OS. I remember I could have build my own image from source, but the only documentation was spread over a thread on a message board with a couple hundred pages... and if you screw your build you brick your device.

You never have to do that if you choose your phones well.

Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#362

Post by joelthelion »

leadingthenet wrote: post #341
joelthelion wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> just using it for phone/texts is such a waste. I'd argue the real waste is throwing away a fully-functioning device full of rare-earth metals and other niceties every two years.

It is. Which is why if you buy an iPhone you can use it for more than two years and still receive security updates, as opposed to Android.

Or you do what I do: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15693586 (not without problems of its own, I easily concede)

Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#363

Post by ajnin »

Hey, they used the data that I made available on my website here : https://www.bidouille.org/misc/androidcharts

Gathering the old data from archive.org snapshots was a pain, I'm glad I saved someone else the trouble :)

One thing that's missing from this data is the actual number of devices in circulation, as said in the article it's only the market share among Android devices, and only those which access the Play Store. Having access to that data would make the graphs much more interesting, but unfortunately I have no idea where to get it.

Re: There are over a billion outdated Android devices in use

#364

Post by jiggunjer »

JepZ wrote: post #249

One fact I was not completely aware about: Even if you have updated your Android device with a Custom ROM (e.g. Lineage/Cyanogen) to a newer Android Version you most likely still have an old Kernel. So yes, I am very happy that I can still run Android 7.1.2 on my 5 year old S3, but at the same time it runs on a 3.0 Linux kernel which was originally release in July 2011. As far as I know, that is because some drivers…

I don't think they just drop in an older Linux kernel. I think Android is more like a Linux fork these days. The current version being based on an older/stable Linux kernel.

If Android updates never touched the kernel, how is it drivers break. They must be updating the kernel too.

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

#365

Post by mtgx »

muzani wrote: post #178
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…

I had an older phone with 4 GB space. I could keep about 15 apps running on it. A lot of these apps were important - Waze, WhatsApp, Slack, Uber, camera, etc. So that left me switching between a budget of about 60 MB for games and unnecessary apps, though I can squeeze in a little more by clearing all the caches. Now suddenly Samsung bugs me to update to the latest version of Android. The new update would take up hun…

This is where Google should have a little foresight and mandate that new Android devices will need to have at least 32GB of on-board storage, for instance. I remember hating HTC for making phones with only 200 MB of free storage in the early days, while giving you an additional 2GB microSD card on which you couldn't install apps anyway. That hatred could have been avoided if either Google mandated a reasonable amount of on-board storage at the time (like 2GB).

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

#366

Post by pixl97 »

Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #278
tscs37 wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your phone will probably turn up in a botnet soon enough, but atleast you had the moral high ground.

Do you have an actual number for "probably" - assuming normal browsing habits (i.e. not to the sort of porn site with a higher likelihood of installing malware), and an outdated version of iOS or Android? How is that number changed by not using public wifi?

>i.e. not to the sort of porn site with a higher likelihood of installing malware

Porn sites are not where most malware comes from. Ad networks are. I've had more attempts at virus and malware installs from 'legitimate' sites that have had poor control of their banner ads.

https://www.extremetech.com/internet/220696-forbes-forces-re...

>How is that number changed by not using public wifi?

You are, quite falsely, assuming that non-public wifi, say your friends house, is any more protected.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/flaws-in-att-routers-put-custom...

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

#367

Post by discreditable »

voltagex_ wrote: post #137
kbwt wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's remarkable how fishy the whole ecosystem around Android ROMs and flashing tools really is. 95% of the posts are in barely comprehensible English. Seemingly every guide tells you to run a random binary from a file sharing host or generic domain. As a rule, source code is non-existent. Downloads are attributable to a forum handle in the best case. Oh and you have to run it with elevated privileges to both your hos…

Yep. It's better than it was - most XDA developers understand what a GPL violation is. I imported my Galaxy S8+ to save over $400AUD on retail. This meant I needed to find a ROM on an obscure site to flash to the phone using a stolen (?) piece of factory software. I can only trust my phone because a Samsung in default configuration won't accept a "modified" update - only one from and signed (?) by Samsung themselves.…

> using a stolen (?) piece of factory software

If you're referring to Odin, there's an open-source alternative in Heimdall (https://www.glassechidna.com.au/heimdall/).

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

#368

Post by kradeelav »

chrisper wrote: post #328
ionised wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> just using it for phone/texts is such a waste. What else would you suggest I use it for? It's worse at pretty much everything except GPS than my desktop or laptop.

You take pictures with your desktop or laptop?

Not the OP, but having an actual camera for special events solves that one pretty easily. A map in the car, a sketchpad for notes - analog has its perks.

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

#369

Post by PenguinCoder »

uuoc wrote: post #338
CommentCard wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back up or sync important contacts and data, and then do a factory reset to restore the original OS. Make sure to turn off auto-updates as it will keep downloading them after the restore. It's a shame that phones keep losing features like micro SD.

> It's a shame that phones keep losing features like micro SD. Phones keep losing features like micro SD (and like end-user replaceable batteries) because too many purchasers do not value those items highly enough to refuse to buy any phone that lacks an SD card slot or a user-replaceable battery. Start refusing to buy any phone which lacks a micro SD slot, and the manufacturers will bring back the micro SD slots (gr…

Curious, what phone was it?

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

#370

Post by laumars »

amelius wrote: post #334
jhasse wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most banking apps are available for Android, which uses the Linux kernel.

Yeah, it uses the Linux kernel, but I wouldn't call it a "Linux phone".

I'll grant you that GP was being pedantic but he is also correct. The only part in Debian/RHEL/Arch/whatever that is Linux is the kernel. "Linux" only refers to the kernel. So technically Android is also a distribution of Linux.

I think what you're arguing is that Android isn't GNU/Linux or that Android isn't libre like what we've come to expect from desktop distributions of Linux.

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