Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years • Hacker News Board

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#41

Post by farhanhubble » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 2:29 AM UTC

dotnet00 wrote: post #29

farhanhubble wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is terrible at doing UX and Samsung has had a chance to actually built a quality alternative app store. However all they have managed to do is to churn out unusable bloated apps like SHealth, SmartThings and Samsung Note.

What alternatives do you prefer to Samsung Notes? I think it's by far the best note taking app I've used. OneNote is close but is less reliable.

I use Samsung note because majority of my notes are Screen Of Memos. I just don't like how they bring features and deprecate them or hide them somewhere undiscoverable. In the most recent instance of UX bug, the convert to text option for handwritten notes is gone!

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#42

Post by kevin_thibedeau » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 2:30 AM UTC

axiomdata316 wrote: post #14

Now for a phone that has a battery that will last that long. That would really be news. I find that I don't replace a phone because it can't function or is no longer secure. I replace it because it can't hold a charge long enough for regular daily use.

For Android, keep it in battery saver mode full time and minimize the screen idle time. This extends charge intervals leading to longer battery life.

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#43

Post by jvanderbot » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 2:37 AM UTC

How much of this is good faith, how much public backlash, and how much just not pushing out revolutionary new hardware every year due to the long awaited death of Moore's law.

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#44

Post by user_7832 » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 2:37 AM UTC

andrewia wrote: post #20

axiomdata316 wrote: post #14

Now for a phone that has a battery that will last that long. That would really be news. I find that I don't replace a phone because it can't function or is no longer secure. I replace it because it can't hold a charge long enough for regular daily use.

That's an inherent limitation of modern lithium batteries with a smartphone's constraints of density, size, packaging, charge current, and a bunch of other requirements. Replacing a battery every 18-24 months costs ~$75 (or 1 hour and $35 if you're comfortable with DIY), which is a reasonable maintenance cost considering smartphones cost $300-$1300. Many car owners don't sell/scrap their car until repairs exceed the…

Correct me if I’m wrong but limiting my charging to 80% (and minimum to say 20%) can increase the charge cycles of a battery by about 5x. This exists on laptops (Thinkpads and Franeworks at least), phones should also offer it.

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#45

Post by AnthonyMouse » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 2:39 AM UTC

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #12

NathanCollins wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great point! I have a "cheap" Samsung M32 that I bought for about $170. One reason I chose this Samsung phone over a similarly priced phone from a competitor was that I wrongly believed that Samsung provided several years more OS and security updates. After buying the phone I realized that longer support only applied to flagship models :/

Devil's advocate question: How did you expect Samsung could fund SW dev costs to support 7 years of updates on the margins of a $170 phone while still turning a profit? Not sure how much you were expecting at $170 but you might have been penny wise and pound foolish here trying to scrape the bottom of the barrel as nobody else gives you more than 2 years of updates at those rock bottom prices. Sometimes it pays to sp…

> How did you expect Samsung could fund SW dev costs to support 7 years of updates on the margins of a $170 phone while still turning a profit?

Release the source code and accept patches. Nobody even cares if you provide further updates at all if you release enough code or documentation to begin with that third parties can feasibly get up to date versions of stock Android running on it.

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#46

Post by acdha » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 2:39 AM UTC

user_7832 wrote: post #44

andrewia wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an inherent limitation of modern lithium batteries with a smartphone's constraints of density, size, packaging, charge current, and a bunch of other requirements. Replacing a battery every 18-24 months costs ~$75 (or 1 hour and $35 if you're comfortable with DIY), which is a reasonable maintenance cost considering smartphones cost $300-$1300. Many car owners don't sell/scrap their car until repairs exceed the…

Correct me if I’m wrong but limiting my charging to 80% (and minimum to say 20%) can increase the charge cycles of a battery by about 5x. This exists on laptops (Thinkpads and Franeworks at least), phones should also offer it.

They do - Apple calls that “optimized charging” on iOS and macOS:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/108055

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#47

Post by elabajaba » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 2:42 AM UTC

seanwilson wrote: post #40

What budget phones right now have a decent number of years for security updates and run stock Android? I tried to get this info a couple of years ago and it took some serious digging to find when each phone was released and how long updates are meant to last as there's no central place to find this. Maybe there's a good resource for this now? Nokia phones are meant to be nearly stock Android I think with 3 years of u…

For anyone looking at budget android phones, probably the most important thing is to look at the CPU on gsmarena (or elsewhere) and make sure it has at least 2 a7N cores (the higher the N, the better, eg. a72[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kryo

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#48

Post by cpitman » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 2:53 AM UTC

bmlzootown wrote: post #18

CrypticShift wrote: post #5

It seems this is only for the new S24 series. I hope this gradually extends to lower ranges. Personally, I find a 2023 phone at 1/8th of the price [1] to be sufficient for my use (spec-wise) Now a removable battery and Less "freezing" [2] please. [1] https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=12583&idPhone... [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38995719

I was genuinely hoping that this would extend back to at least the 10 series. I'm still daily driving my S10+ that I got when it first came out with no major issues other than the eventual lack of updates. Battery life is still great, very minimal wear and tear. Only real complaint I have at this point is that, post TMobile-Sprint merger, signal strength is rather odd at work now.

Yep, same boat. I didn't realize the S10 went out of support last year. Other than the battery having less charge, it works well. Wonder how much longer it is safe to use?

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#49

Post by esalman » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 2:55 AM UTC

elabajaba wrote: post #47

seanwilson wrote: post #40

What budget phones right now have a decent number of years for security updates and run stock Android? I tried to get this info a couple of years ago and it took some serious digging to find when each phone was released and how long updates are meant to last as there's no central place to find this. Maybe there's a good resource for this now? Nokia phones are meant to be nearly stock Android I think with 3 years of u…

For anyone looking at budget android phones, probably the most important thing is to look at the CPU on gsmarena (or elsewhere) and make sure it has at least 2 a7N cores (the higher the N, the better, eg. a72 [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kryo

I have a hard time figuring this out too. I have resorted to looking at benchmark scores for comparing mobile CPUs.

Re: Samsung extends Android and security updates to 7 years

#50

Post by kevingadd » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 2:59 AM UTC

user_7832 wrote: post #44

andrewia wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an inherent limitation of modern lithium batteries with a smartphone's constraints of density, size, packaging, charge current, and a bunch of other requirements. Replacing a battery every 18-24 months costs ~$75 (or 1 hour and $35 if you're comfortable with DIY), which is a reasonable maintenance cost considering smartphones cost $300-$1300. Many car owners don't sell/scrap their car until repairs exceed the…

Correct me if I’m wrong but limiting my charging to 80% (and minimum to say 20%) can increase the charge cycles of a battery by about 5x. This exists on laptops (Thinkpads and Franeworks at least), phones should also offer it.

They do, at least on Samsung phones and tablets. It's in settings.