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I don’t want a new phone, but I’m probably buying one

kooslooijesteijn.net

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Re: I don’t want a new phone, but I’m probably buying one

#211

Post by YellOh »

SCdF wrote: post #120

I've mentioned this on here before, but my otherwise perfectly functional Pixel 3A has been out of security-patch support for nearly a year. It's disgusting honestly, my only options are to try to find some open source project keeping patches up to date, have my most important information on an unpatched device, or throw it in the trash.

Huh. I've been using a Pixel 2 for a long time (got it early after release), and for some reason it's never occurred to me to worry. My battery life is still awesome, so I figured I'd just use this thing until it dies.

If you do switch to OSS, let me know how it goes -- I've considered switching to Replicant or PureOS for freedom/privacy reasons, but haven't had a good enough reason to put in the effort yet.

Edit: looking at the release date, it looks like I've had my phone for ~5.5 years, and luckily I've had zero of the problems of the person who wrote the original article. All my apps still work as expected, and I've never noticed issues with new apps I download. I'm not saying their problems aren't real, just that they're not usiversal.

Re: I don’t want a new phone, but I’m probably buying one

#212

Post by hdhrufjdi »

favsq wrote: post #22

>Because consider how much time you spend trying to not harm the environment in your free time: shopping for sustainable products, bringing your reusable cup, recycling. That's saying that people should share your views on politics, which is not rational.

Destroying what we live of is not rational

Re: I don’t want a new phone, but I’m probably buying one

#213

Post by kennyadam »

scarface74 wrote: post #164
vanilla_nut wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, you cannot. Apple does not give you the freedom to use old versions of software. You can't downgrade your iOS version. You can only upgrade apps, and iOS only lets you download the latest available version of an app for your version of iOS. Need to do a device reset? If you have managed to keep any apps on old versions, you'll get upgraded now. And you can't even save APKs and sideload because of Apple's develope…

> Apple does not give you the freedom to use old versions of software This is not true and hasn’t been true since around the time that iOS 7 came out. About two years ago, I dusted off an old first gen iPad (circa 2010). I reset it and I was able to download “the last compatible version”. It’s option given to you by the App Store. I was able to use Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, Spotify, Google Drive to read PDFs.

It's an option given to you if the app is already in your purchase history for your AppleID. If not, then you have to find a newer device, sign in to it with your AppleID, download the app and then return to the old device and hope that a compatible older version is a) available and b) still functional and that the devs haven't turned off any server-side stuff that the older versions relied on.

Re: I don’t want a new phone, but I’m probably buying one

#214

Post by scarface74 »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #199
scarface74 wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you specifically enabled it, iOS does not get automatically updated.

They might have enabled it without understanding what could (and did) happen. Victim-blaming isn't the answer here -- that was a genuine clusterfuck that hosed a lot of working installations for no good reason.

You mean if you enable “automatic iOS updates” you don’t expect automatic iOS updates?

Or do you mean that when the user specifically enables “automatic iOS updates”, Apple shouldn’t automatically do iOS updates?

If we don’t “blame the victim” for explicitly making a choice , who is at fault?

Re: I don’t want a new phone, but I’m probably buying one

#215

Post by zevlag »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #169
londons_explore wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember back in 2002 where if you connect an unpatched windows machine to the internet, it would only be a few minutes before it got infected? Well running unpatched stuff is no longer like that. I bet you could use a 2013 iDevice for a whole year and not get exploited once. Exploits are mostly against the rich and famous now, and not so much against regular joe.

> Remember back in 2002 where if you connect an unpatched windows machine to the internet, it would only be a few minutes before it got infected? Was that actually true, or just an urban legend? I've heard this a lot back then, but never actually saw it happen.

Oh, it's definitely true. I experience it multiple times.

Re: I don’t want a new phone, but I’m probably buying one

#216

Post by graderjs »

andylynch wrote: post #113
graderjs wrote: post #71

Maybe one day there will be AI-optimized "emulation" apps that work on older hardware, but emulate newer hardware, making intelligent code path optimizations / branch prediction, etc with the help of AI-generated bytecode that lets you not have to upgrade your hardware, you just upgrade the emulator you use to run apps supposedly only supported on newer hardware. Also, whenever I hear "you're making me"--I instantly…

Well, you can already do things like this, eg emulating x86 on some microcontroller. But the problem tends to be that the emulation runs magnitudes slower than the new hardware, so it is impractical for almost every use case beside Doom ports to exotic hardware.

Yes yes yes, that's why I included AI-optimized >>> ^^ see above! :p :) xx;p

Re: I don’t want a new phone, but I’m probably buying one

#217

Post by wiredfool »

hx833001 wrote: post #207
wiredfool wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Size, not specs. If I want a mini with cell, it's 800 eur, which might be 600 moneys where you live, but VAT is included here. Actually, 64GB mini with Wifi+Cellular is 869 eur in Ireland, just checked there. When I bought my original mini, it was the cheapest new iOS device with a cell radio.

The original iPad mini 2 with cellular was $529 when introduced ten years ago, not $300. The current iPad mini with cellular was $649 when introduced one and a half years ago. Both of those numbers are the actual US Dollar prices for both products. Your pricing information is not correct.

$349, plus tax of 30.36, on April 7, 2015.

Still have the invoice.

Re: I don’t want a new phone, but I’m probably buying one

#219

Post by inanutshellus »

GeekyBear wrote: post #181
vanilla_nut wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, you cannot. Apple does not give you the freedom to use old versions of software. You can't downgrade your iOS version. You can only upgrade apps, and iOS only lets you download the latest available version of an app for your version of iOS. Need to do a device reset? If you have managed to keep any apps on old versions, you'll get upgraded now. And you can't even save APKs and sideload because of Apple's develope…

> Apple does not give you the freedom to use old versions of software. Not only can you use old versions of software, you can download them again if you reset your device. Visit the purchased tab in the App Store and select the app you wish to download again, and you will receive the last compatible version for that particular device.

The distinction here is choosing which version you want, not "the latest / maximum version the developer allows to be used for my device".

For example I just got an update to an app I've been using for a while. The update will sunset the app despite there being no online component to it. I'd kinda like to downgrade now, but the latest version compatible with my phone would be his sunsetted one.

Re: I don’t want a new phone, but I’m probably buying one

#220

Post by returningfory2 »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #147

I buy a discount old non-iPhone from Target for $29. When I drop it and it's destroyed, I drop by Target and get another one. I have in my lifetime spent less than 10% of one iPhone on phones total. It runs maybe half as fast as a current phone. At 3% of the price.

The math doesn’t check out? My iPhone SE is $430 new, so as soon as you’ve bought two of these throwaway phones you’re over 10%?

Making this comment to push back on the idea that somehow iPhones are insanely expensive; the SE is not.

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