When does an old smartphone become unsafe to use?

[silvagti]

I have an old Samsung Galaxy I've been using for the past 4+ years. I'm perfectly happy with the device in terms of the hardware/performance and the battery life is still great. However I've noticed that it's no longer on the most recent version of Android and hasn't received Android security updates in over a year.

So it started me wondering at what point does an old smartphone become unsafe to use? Should I replace a perfectly good phone just because it no longer receives updates? Are there any alternative options to update the phone (custom ROMs)? Though that in itself is perhaps a security risk and more effort than simply buying new handset.

Or is it broadly safe to carry on using an old phone for a year or two so long as you don't log into unknown networks and keep the apps on the phone updated?

Would be keen to hear folks thoughts on the topic?

 

[nine_tails]

You will need to keep an eye on what vulnerabilities come out on previous OS. I personally have used 1-2 years behind current updates. You can also go the custom rom route before chucking away the phone.

 

[BigBoy]

tbh if you are happy to continue using the device and you dont open every email attachment ever then you should be fine.

What you will find is that some apps will no longer function and the play store compatibility will reduce over time as the app makers will reduce compatibility options to reduce upkeep on older hardware.

 

[TangoEchoAlpha]

A couple of days ago I found myself in a similar situation with my Pixel 2 - a perfectly functioning phone, but Google stopped providing updates for Android about a year ago.

There are alternative OS', for older phones you're probably looking at something like Lineage OS. That's what I installed, minus the Google bloat and services, now I am getting updates for the OS. I did want to install Graphene OS but they consider my phone legacy now

The only downside is that the Google specific packages (eg. Google Maps, Google Play) won't work due to Google Services not being present - but it has opened up plenty of alternatives.

I use a piece of software called Racoon to download apps from Google Play and install them direct to the phone via ADB.

 

[BigBoy]

A couple of days ago I found myself in a similar situation with my Pixel 2 - a perfectly functioning phone, but Google stopped providing updates for Android about a year ago.

There are alternative OS', for older phones you're probably looking at something like Lineage OS. That's what I installed, minus the Google bloat and services, now I am getting updates for the OS. I did want to install Graphene OS but they consider my phone legacy now

The only downside is that the Google specific packages (eg. Google Maps, Google Play) won't work due to Google Services not being present - but it has opened up plenty of alternatives.

I use a piece of software called Racoon to download apps from Google Play and install them direct to the phone via ADB.

Flash the GAPPS https://opengapps.org/ package for your device and you will have full Google integration (maps playstore accounts and so on)

 

[TangoEchoAlpha]

Flash the GAPPS https://opengapps.org/ package for your device and you will have full Google integration (maps playstore accounts and so on)

Thanks - I did try that, as well as MindTheGapps. Whenever I tried flashing with opengapps, it failed saying that the version of Android was incorrect for that version of OpenGapps. When I tried flashing with MindTheGapps, it seemed to work, so I rebooted from TWRP recovery into Lineage OS - and no Google at all.

I've tried the core and basic MindTheGapps, as well as the Pico, Nano and Stock of OpenGapps. None of them seem to actually do anything and I am installing them immediately after installing Lineage OS and before booting into Lineage OS for the first time. To be honest I am not overly bothered, but equally if I could work it out it would be nice to know what I did wrong, if anything!

 

[BigBoy]

What version number of Lineage are you installing? When on the open GAPPS page you need to select arm64 android11 and micro and flash that package.

I've always done a full wipe (Dalvic and system partitions) then flash the OS package and GAPPS straight after.

Dirty flashing (flashing without clearing cache system partitions) is to be avoided at all costs!

 

[TangoEchoAlpha]

What version number of Lineage are you installing? When on the open GAPPS page you need to select arm64 android11 and micro and flash that package.

I've always done a full wipe (Dalvic and system partitions) then flash the OS package and GAPPS straight after.

Dirty flashing (flashing without clearing cache system partitions) is to be avoided at all costs!

Thanks BigBoy. In order to avoid completely hijacking @silvagti 's thread, I've started a new one:

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...ive-os-new-thread-to-avoid-a-hijack.18938723/