Ask HN: Options for Android phone no longer getting security updates? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Options for Android phone no longer getting security updates?

#31

Post by warner25 » Fri, Oct 14, 2022, 2:51 PM UTC

tarakat wrote: post #30

A related question: How secure is an Android phone that does receive security updates from its vendor? I vaguely recall hearing that it can take months before a security patch makes it from mainline Android to consumer devices.

Yes, this and several other comments have made me realize it's easy but probably wrong to think in black-and-white that: "getting updates => secure; no more updates => insecure." I guess there are no obvious relationships between "up-to-date" Android (for the reason you gave), "old" Android, up-to-date LineageOS, and the acceptable level of security for a common user.

Re: Ask HN: Options for Android phone no longer getting security updates?

#32

Post by vivab0rg » Fri, Oct 14, 2022, 3:01 PM UTC

netsharc wrote: post #14

The problem with custom ROMs is that a lot of banking apps try to detect if the phone's bootloader is unlocked or it's rooted, and these apps then refuse to work. There are workarounds but they're not bulletproof.

This is just not true. I've been using my banking apps succesfully since last year across 3 rooted cheap phones with 4 distinct custom LineageOS ROMs with just some Magisk modules.

Re: Ask HN: Options for Android phone no longer getting security updates?

#33

Post by yakak » Fri, Oct 14, 2022, 8:13 PM UTC

For a similar moto one I saw two problems trying to use microg/lineageos:

1. Bluetooth headset audio had some kind of bug. Something like this is a deal breaker or something you would never notice depending on what you do on the phone I suppose.

2. There's no sign of a key partition to support orange(?) booting. I just see N/A for the keys of whatever OS I might have booted.

Re: Ask HN: Options for Android phone no longer getting security updates?

#34

Post by throwaway67743 » Sat, Oct 15, 2022, 8:10 PM UTC

drpixie wrote: post #13

webmobdev wrote: post #7

If you prefer Android devices, always seek out phones whose bootloader can be unlocked so that you can install another OS on it. This way, you can be assured of Android fork / ports being available for the phone even if the manufacturer stops releasing updates. I highly recommend Sony Open Devices - https://static.developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/get-s... ... Or checkout the list of supported devices that can…

Unfortunately, the Sony Open devices seem to be hard to get (at least in Oz). I use LineageOS but there it's only available for a limited set of devices :(

Xiaomi are pretty good, many of their mid range models are pretty cheap and they do have manufacturer supported unlocking (I have 2, Poco X3 pro and the Poco f3, because the f4 is trash)

Both are well supported by lineage and co (I don't use lineage because they refuse to include signature spoofing so microg doesn't work properly) but otherwise fine.