Updates matter shit these days. Honestly. If you have Android 10 or higher 99% of Playstore Apps work today and honestly after Android 10 we haven’t gotten any noteworthy new features.
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Pantherina@feddit.de 8 months ago
And then how long do you get any updates?
aluminium@lemmy.world 8 months ago
shortwavesurfer@monero.town 8 months ago
I flash custom ROMs, so get updates pretty frequently, but that is beyond most people’s capabilities, for sure. I currently use the OnePlus Nord N200 which i got new for $250 and installed LineageOS 20 (Android 13l on it. You can still tell it’s a $250 phone compared to like $1000 phones but the differences aren’t noticeable enough to cause me issues and make me want to upgrade.
Pantherina@feddit.de 8 months ago
Idk, I bought a used Pixel and use it with GrapheneOS. 150/200€ often, if you repair it yourself its cheaper.
LineageOS is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many components that will likely not get any updates
shortwavesurfer@monero.town 8 months ago
GrapheneOS is a great project. I had a Pixel 3a XL with Graphene on it and it was a good experience
Pantherina@feddit.de 8 months ago
It has evolved a lot since then
v4ld1z@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
For the uninitiated, what’s Lineage OS? Is that like a FOSS alternative OS?
Pantherina@feddit.de 8 months ago
LineageOS is a project making AOSP (Android Open Source Project) usable. This means bundling it together, combining it with the right drivers and kernel for specific phones.
LineageOS is not security focused and often less secure than stock Android. It has no Google Apps by default, which means a lot of proprietary Apps that rely on the backends will not work, at all.
There is the option to install “NIK Gapps” or other names, which is just a bundle of all Google Apps, installed as System apps, just as horrible as stock Android is.
There also is microG, which is also a system app and is not Opensource, as it downloads official Google Binaries.
Every System app can read critical device identifiers that you cannot change, and can access all files, as it doesnt need permissions.
LineageOS is a usable Android, often more up to date than what came with the device, but those Devices never have full support for Custom ROMS, like relockable Bootloader or full security features. So in the end you have more updates but partly less security, more privacy or none.
Also the Updates that LineageOS can even supply are very minor. Android devices use the Linux kernel but a special version tailored to that SOC (System on a chip). They would need to make a custom Kernel just for that phone, often newer, as manifacturers of those cheap phones have nonexistent Update lifespans.
They dont do that as its a lot of (unpaid) work.
Then there is firmware which is only delivered by manifacturers and signed with their private keys. No custom OS can do that and firmware security holes are very important and a lot.
So LineageOS is a really nice project if you donate to them but still save money. Abusing their hard work to buy cheap devices and get their longer OS support for free is not cool.
And in the end it is incomplete, insecure and nothing to build upon when buying a new device.
conciselyverbose@kbin.social 8 months ago
This is literally a core
ihavenopeopleskills@kbin.social 8 months ago
Not saying we shouldn't donate to worthy causes, but if we're going to call using free software without paying abuse, then there are many technology users to round up.
shortwavesurfer@monero.town 8 months ago
Yes. Its basically AOSP (android Open Source Project) with just enough stuff to make the device useable and you have to add everything else on top of it. A lot of custom ROMs use LineageOS as their base and build from that point.
Hyperreality@kbin.social 8 months ago
Unfortunately it's a no go if you're using banking or government apps.
Not how it should be, but how it is.
Salix@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
Do note that although custom ROMs helps provides OS updates, it does not help with any firmware updates to your phone parts as those are vendor released, and once they stop providing updates, it is no longer secure
I have a OnePlus 3T (2016) that is running Android 11 custom ROM. I use it mainly for some games and browsing. I would never use it as my main phone though. Don’t want to risk all of my info/data on there.
erwan@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
When you say “it’s no longer secure”, can you point to an actual vulnerability on older hardware and what the exploits are?
We keep hearing how unpatched phones are not secure but I’d like to hear more about what the actual risk is.
Millions of people use older phones that haven’t been updated for years, yet it seems to me that scams are more about social engineering than exploiting software vulnerabilities on phones.
Salix@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
You might like this website! It’s quite an interesting website to go through :)
www.cvedetails.com
Though to be fair, majority of every day people probably aren’t getting hacked.
BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Right?
Show me some stats where this is demonstrated to be a problem.
I run OLD versions - current phone is Android 9.
I’ve had 10x more problems caused by system updates than anything else, let alone “being insecure”.
shortwavesurfer@monero.town 8 months ago
That is definitely true. Once the vendor stops putting up those patches, it does become quite problematic. So as long as you keep your Android up to date as best as you can and primarily use open source software and ad blockers, you should be alright in most cases.
Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
That only works if there is support for the phone from developers. For many phones there isn’t any, both because the OEM did not make their source available and no individual Dev was interested in doing support for it.
If you want a new phone that has support you need to research it first.
Phones with Mediatek processors tend to be the worst for this, because the source code often is not released, contrary to the open source license.
shortwavesurfer@monero.town 8 months ago
That is a good point. I always make sure that my devices can run lineage before buying them because I don’t want to be stuck with a brick.