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Is it time to question the yearly release cycle for phones? (lemmy.zip)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip to c/technology@lemmy.world

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So recently I've been seeing the trend where Android OEMs such as Google, Samsung, etc. have been extending their software release times up to like five, six, and seven years after device release. Clearly, phone hardware has gotten to the point where it can support software for that long, and computers have been in that stage for a very long time. From what I can tell, the only OEM that does this currently might be Fairphone.

Edit: The battery is the thing that goes the fastest so manufacturers could just offer new batteries and that would solve a lot of the problem.

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[–] 2kool4idkwhat@lemdro.id 13 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Clearly, phone hardware has gotten to the point where it can support software for that long, and computers have been in that stage for a very long time

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Software supports hardware, not the other way around. You could run the latest android on any powerful enough hardware. The only limit is the porting effort

For example, the samsung galaxy s4 was released in 2013 with android 4 and the latest official version for it is android 5

The lineageos folks however have been - until recently - maintaining android 11 (and previous versions) for it, afaik fairly easly. The only reason they don't have newer android versions for the s4 is that android 12 depends on a kernel feature which samsung's ancient official version doesn't have. The lineageos folks could in theory reverse engineer the proprietary drivers and maintain a more up to date kernel for the s4, but they simply don't have the manpower

Samsung tho? They easily could support modern android versions on this 2013 phone, but they won't for the same reason they made batteries non-removable: they don't want you to use old hardware, they want you to buy a new phone every year

I typed this on my 2018 phone (oneplus 6) running android 14 (the latest official version is android 11)

[–] yonder@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

eyo, another oneplus 6 user! It's nice having a headphone jack on a phone. I run PostmarketOS on mine for virtually infinite software updates.

[–] mitrosus@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

How does the postmarket OS work? Is it pure Linux? Does it support android apps?

[–] yonder@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago

Yes, it pure linux and is based on Alpine linux often used in Docker Containers. Many supported devices run an upstream kernel instead of the old manufacturer one that comes with android. Android apps can work though waydroid, though I have not used apps that require google play services, though I did get that working on my laptoo.

[–] 2kool4idkwhat@lemdro.id 1 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Nice. I actually installed postmarketOS last year for fun. How is it nowadays? Last time I tried it, the camera didn't work, I didn't manage to set up Waydroid, most non-GTK apps didn't adapt well to a phone, and afaik there were no push notifications (which was a big deal for me because having an app always running in the background made the battery drain much faster). Also what interface do you use? I used Gnome with mobile patches

[–] yonder@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago

Not much has changed since then. I use Phosh since as beautiful as gnome mobile is, it lacks some functionality.

[–] yonder@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Actually, apparently the pixel3a now has both front and rear camera support, though still in the very early stages. I also like how the pixel3a has a plastic back instead of the glass on the OP6 so it does not shatter if you drop it.

[–] 2kool4idkwhat@lemdro.id 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I also like how the pixel3a has a plastic back instead of the glass on the OP6 so it does not shatter if you drop it.

Yeah, same. That's one of the 2 main things I don't like about the OP6 (the other being the non-removable battery). Putting a protective case on it solves the problem though

[–] yonder@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago

The OP6 is already so big that it's quite the brick with a case. I'm hoping that the people working at Fairphone can get PostmarketOS running reasonably well on their devices considering PostmarketOS aligns pretty well with their goals.

[–] interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Manufacturers frustrate os replacement on purpose. The vast majority of phones cannot have their os changed by the user. Lineageos is a niche effort for ultraniche phones.

[–] 2kool4idkwhat@lemdro.id 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

True. It's kinda crazy that nowadays most phones don't have an official way to unlock the bootloader

[–] interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 month ago

I discovered that after buying 60 of my favourite phone, the 2018 moto z3. I figured I could mod it endlessly and use it for all my project. Nope, bootloader locked and I can't even root the damned thing !