Isn’t android 15 about to become stable? As someone who would be interested in getting a fair phone, I that kind of makes me want to reconsider. I like getting up to date software because I hate being a year late on features
It’s pretty normal for Android manufacturers to be well behind on updates. There are really only a handful that are actually reliable, the rest are pretty bad. Feature updates seem to matter less and less these days, though. You can go back several versions and not really notice any difference.
For example, If I copied something in the clipboard, every time I opened any app, a window popped up to ask if I allow the app to access Clipboard.
An annoying “-1” screen when I swiped the home screen to the left (mostly accidentally). It shows all kind of shit I didn’t care for like news, stock, weather, pictures. I have separate app for that when I needed it.
They have it set where you have to grant permissions to any new app requesting said permission. This is literally something the user has done to themselves that (most) others are actually thankful to have such a feature lol.
It’s pretty normal for Android manufacturers to be well behind on updates.
Samsung managed to get a workflow rolling where the lag is relatively short. Basically Pixel owners are treated as beta testers and three or so months later Samsung owners get the upgrade.
It’s a bit annoying (I know I’m still not getting it on mine despite the announcements), but their handling it of major updates (performance wise) have been decent on my end. I do love my FP5, but it’s a bit hit and miss according to experience I read about online. I know my experience of their headphones (the most recent ones, the wireless buds) has been horrendous but I would recommend the FairPhone personally.
Fuck features, security is the important thing here. If they are 10 (11?) months old on major systems version jumps, the fuck are they doing for monthly security patches?! A year? 18 months?
For me, the biggest drive for me when getting a phone is rapid security updates. Then, openness of the bootloader. My phone - everyone’s phone - is a golden ticket to a huge trove of data about the person. Modular parts and repairability are important (and very desirable for me), but absolutely not at the cost of security.
And it’s not like it’s difficult to put these together. Android… 8? Set the framework for modern updates. Everything is separate and only what you need to update has to be touched, so they can be very small and quick to install. We aren’t in the multi-gig full system images days, requiring full QA and deep testing anymore. Patch, ship. It’s not fucking difficult!
They incorrectly assumed that when Fairphone was working on the A14 feature update that they halted any and all security updates for existing versions which is not true.
They come out with all the security updates (anywhere between 2 weeks and a month after Google pushes them out). They don’t wait for a feature update to push out security updates.
Isn’t android 15 about to become stable? As someone who would be interested in getting a fair phone, I that kind of makes me want to reconsider. I like getting up to date software because I hate being a year late on features
It’s pretty normal for Android manufacturers to be well behind on updates. There are really only a handful that are actually reliable, the rest are pretty bad. Feature updates seem to matter less and less these days, though. You can go back several versions and not really notice any difference.
Also most of the “new features” are just useless or annoying.
Which features do you find annoying?
For example, If I copied something in the clipboard, every time I opened any app, a window popped up to ask if I allow the app to access Clipboard.
An annoying “-1” screen when I swiped the home screen to the left (mostly accidentally). It shows all kind of shit I didn’t care for like news, stock, weather, pictures. I have separate app for that when I needed it.
That’s just a few.
That sounds like a great security feature!
I’m on android 14 (realmeUI) and do not get any noification asking for confirmation before allowing the app to read or paste clipboard data.
They have it set where you have to grant permissions to any new app requesting said permission. This is literally something the user has done to themselves that (most) others are actually thankful to have such a feature lol.
Yes
Samsung managed to get a workflow rolling where the lag is relatively short. Basically Pixel owners are treated as beta testers and three or so months later Samsung owners get the upgrade.
Yeah Samsung is pretty good, one of the “handful” I was referring to. They are consistent and fulfil their promises.
Just put Arch on your phone then /s
It’s a bit annoying (I know I’m still not getting it on mine despite the announcements), but their handling it of major updates (performance wise) have been decent on my end. I do love my FP5, but it’s a bit hit and miss according to experience I read about online. I know my experience of their headphones (the most recent ones, the wireless buds) has been horrendous but I would recommend the FairPhone personally.
Fuck features, security is the important thing here. If they are 10 (11?) months old on major systems version jumps, the fuck are they doing for monthly security patches?! A year? 18 months?
For me, the biggest drive for me when getting a phone is rapid security updates. Then, openness of the bootloader. My phone - everyone’s phone - is a golden ticket to a huge trove of data about the person. Modular parts and repairability are important (and very desirable for me), but absolutely not at the cost of security.
And it’s not like it’s difficult to put these together. Android… 8? Set the framework for modern updates. Everything is separate and only what you need to update has to be touched, so they can be very small and quick to install. We aren’t in the multi-gig full system images days, requiring full QA and deep testing anymore. Patch, ship. It’s not fucking difficult!
Arghhhhh!
What does security have to do with feature updates?
Fairphone for example patches security updates pretty (not perfectly, granted) quickly, but is about a year or so behind on feature updates.
They incorrectly assumed that when Fairphone was working on the A14 feature update that they halted any and all security updates for existing versions which is not true.
There is no relation, this person just seems to have fallen for security theatre.
https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/18682800465169-Fairphone-5-OS-Release-Notes
So far, security updates have been delivered after 1 Month. Security updates can also be delivered after the release of a new Android version.
Hrm, not bad. TIL.
They come out with all the security updates (anywhere between 2 weeks and a month after Google pushes them out). They don’t wait for a feature update to push out security updates.