Smartphone upgrade treadmill

[Blue Mountain]

Thread inspired by the following two posts in "The all-new US Politics and coronavirus thread pt. 2"

Link to the app on GitHub. Unfortunately it doesn't work on older versions of Android and iOS. Google Play indicates the app needs Android version 6 and up; the Apple version requires iOS 13.5 or later.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S4—a perfectly serviceable device that can run a lot of Android software—but it's running Android 5, not 6.

To me this is a huge problem with the Android ecosystem: the OS gets a refresh every year, but older devices don't. As time goes by the older devices get further and further behind until eventually otherwise good hardware can't run the latest software. With desktop systems this usually doesn't happen for ten to fifteen years, but with smartphones the horizon is shorter; in my case, a seven year old smartphone can't run this app. At the same time, I can connect a fifty year old touch-tone telephone to the POTS ("plain old telephone system") and it will work. (Yes, 50 year old phone; DTMF phones have been around since 1963.)

There are options for upgrading the S4 to a newer version of Android. If you’re really wedded to a 7-year-old phone, I think it’s on you to update it instead of complaining that your OS is out of date.

As for being "wedded" to to my seven year old phone: It works! It makes and receives calls. The MP3 player (which I use for podcasts) works. GPS works. The camera and the barcode reader app work. The sensors work. Why should I have to get a new phone to replace a device that currently does pretty much everything I want it to do?

And why is it that this technology goes stale so bloody fast? A forty year old vehicle can still fill up its tank at a gas station. Fifty year old touch tone phones still work. Seventy year old AM radios can still receive over the air broadcasts. A hundred year old clock, if maintained, will still tell the time. My mom had a kitchen scale her grandmother used; it still accurately registers 1 pound when an pound weight is placed on it.

Yet I'm "wedded" to a seven year old phone?

 

[grmcdorman]

It's more that the manufacturers are wedded to the upgrade treadmill - for obvious reasons. Further, supporting old phones is an expense that they want to cut. Samsung recently floated supporting phones for three whole years (if I recall correctly).

You can, with some work, get custom "ROMs" for the Android devices; I have a Samsung A7 (2017) on Android 10, and a Nexus 7 (2013) also on Android 10. But the community support is hit-and-miss, and may disappear without notice. And it's really not for the vast majority of people, due to the technical nature of getting it on your device.

So, yes, this is a problem, mostly for Android devices.

 

[grmcdorman]

Yeah, just checked, S4 has LineageOS 17.1 available (which is Android 10): https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/jfltexx/

But again, that's technical work - and will erase what you currently have on the phone.

 

[theprestige]

It's not a phone. It's a pocket-sized general purpose computer with a built-in radio that replicates and supersedes the functionality of the telephone. In addition to replicating and superseding many other functions, and introducing new functions that are only possible because this device exists.

And it goes stale because we're still exploring the possibilities and limitations of this domain of pocket-sized general purpose computers with built-in radios. Hell, we're still exploring the possibilities and limitations of regular-sized general purpose computers!

People are constantly coming up with ways to expand the capabilities of these things, and constantly coming up with new things to do with those expanded capabilities. It should be no surprise to you that seven year old hardware can't do some of the latest and greatest tricks.

Are you seriously complaining that you can't run some cool new piece of software on a seven year old device? If your benchmark is touch phones and AM radios, why do you even have a cell phone at all? Shouldn't you be back home on your land line, telling your friend about how you'll never get on that stupid upgrade treadmill?

 

[Babbylonian]

If it's working for you, that's fine. My issue is when you complain that newer apps won't work on the phone. There are always limitations like that when it comes to using old operating systems on old hardware and, yes, 7 years is old. It's not only old when it comes to smartphones either. A 7-year-old desktop PC stands a good chance of having trouble with brand new programs.

I would also point out that upgrading from your Samsung S4 would be dirt cheap. Right now, for example, I can get a very capable Moto G Power for less than $100 from Google Fi. It wouldn't compete with the most expensive devices of the last two years but it would likely outperform your S4 and it will be up to date (well within 6-8 months of up to date - Motorola isn't the fastest) with the newest operating system for the next 2-3 years, and will be functional (and likely compatible with the vast majority of new apps) for several years after that. Seriously, get on that kind of treadmill ($100-200 every 3 years or so) and I doubt you'd be complaining too much.

As for why the technology "goes stale" so fast, it's money of course. That's just reality. You can complain until you're blue in the face but it will do you absolutely no good. Also, newer phones have longer battery life, better screens, more memory (allowing more complex applications and multitasking), etc. which lots of people find desirable. For example, the 2 GB RAM in your S4 would drive me absolutely insane with how slow it would be moving from app to app.

Anyway, back to trying to be helpful. If you really want to keep using your Galaxy S4 and want a newer OS, here's a page that will guide you through installing the current version of LineageOS which is based on Android 10. If you install this, you will be running a more modern OS than most current Android users.

 

[Trebuchet]

It's not a phone. It's a pocket-sized general purpose computer with a built-in radio that replicates and supersedes the functionality of the telephone. In addition to replicating and superseding many other functions, and introducing new functions that are only possible because this device exists.

And at the moment, due to the incompetence of my cable company, it's my only means of accessing the internet. Thank goodness for mobile hotspot!

 

[alfaniner]

I got pissed when Apple kept upgrading their OS and it wouldn't back-support all the apps I'd made. It required some redesigning and recompiling and all the associated uploading to their developer site just to keep them visible. After about the third time I said screw it, I wasn't really making any money on them anyway.

 

[Sherkeu]

My last phone upgrade 2 years ago meant my car will no longer do 'hands free'.
I am back to having a phone used like it's 1999 in my car.
I need a new car now.
Talk about a pricey upgrade!!!


I have had my Acura for 12 years, and a samsung note 8.

 

[theprestige]

Actually it's pretty impressive, going seven years without an upgrade. I think the pace of the treadmill may be slowing, though. . Seven years is a bit much, but I'm going on four years now myself. Which I didn't expect, but here we are.

Prices are going up, faster than performance now. And loyalty discounts from carriers are evaporating. It used to be I could get a free upgrade with a two year commitment. Not any more. Now I have to sign the phone service agreement and still pay the full whack for a new phone. No thanks. At this point I'm going to stick with my perfectly serviceable device. I'll upgrade when it dies, or when some new must have technology emerges. Something that can read this forum, probably.

 

[rdwight]

I feel you pain. I upgraded from the s4 to the s7 around two years ago. I work on a laptop most of the day so having the best and most up to date smart phone was and is low on priorities for me. I switch then for the same reason I switched now. Calls come in and I would wait 10 seconds and 3 rings before I would see who is calling or have the ability to answer.

I don't worry about the latest apps being compatible, or the battery to be great. But the most basic function, calling, was eventually slower than old flip phones I had in my teens. Call it what you will but there seems to be a deliberate approach to have basic functions slow down until they aren't worth dealing with.

On the plus side of things? Buy used and it's not really terrible. I purchased a basically new s7 for 170$ two years ago, could probably get around 100$ today. So 35$ a year in that. I upgraded to an s10+ recently for more than I would normally spend on a phone, around 390$, but had I dont what I intended I would have purchased the s9+ for 240$ or so and kepts that for 2 years. And I would guess I could sell that 2 years later for at least 100$.

So the yearly price would increase but be honest, is the return worth it? If I end up keeping my s10+ for two years, and the value drops all the way down to 100$, I would have spent 145$ or so a year for it. At a little over 10$ a month, it's well worth it to me for just the calls coming through faster and the battery life. Not to mention overheating when doing group chats with friends disappearing and photos/being on another level than the s7.

So.. if you actually use your phone for all the functions it has available, spend what you can afford on something that's worth it. I had the s4. It worked for the time, and overall the upgrades I've made are less than my yearly bagel budget. Check your service and see if a cheaper plan there is worth it, then it'll be awash upgrading.

 

[quadraginta]

Thread inspired by the following two posts in "The all-new US Politics and coronavirus thread pt. 2"





As for being "wedded" to to my seven year old phone: It works! It makes and receives calls. The MP3 player (which I use for podcasts) works. GPS works. The camera and the barcode reader app work. The sensors work. Why should I have to get a new phone to replace a device that currently does pretty much everything I want it to do? <snip>

You don't.

If it does everything you want from a smartphone then there's no reason to upgrade.

 

[quadraginta]

It's more that the manufacturers are wedded to the upgrade treadmill - for obvious reasons. Further, supporting old phones is an expense that they want to cut. Samsung recently floated supporting phones for three whole years (if I recall correctly).

You can, with some work, get custom "ROMs" for the Android devices; I have a Samsung A7 (2017) on Android 10, and a Nexus 7 (2013) also on Android 10. But the community support is hit-and-miss, and may disappear without notice. And it's really not for the vast majority of people, due to the technical nature of getting it on your device.

So, yes, this is a problem, mostly for Android devices.

Why do you think Apple is any better about this?

 

[quadraginta]

Yeah, just checked, S4 has LineageOS 17.1 available (which is Android 10): https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/jfltexx/

But again, that's technical work - and will erase what you currently have on the phone.

That shouldn't be a problem if you've done back-ups. Everything on the phone can be backed up, and restored after the new ROM is installed.

If someone is technically adept enough to install the new ROM then back-up and restore shouldn't be much of a hurdle.

And it really isn't that hard. I've managed to do it with several different smartphones, a couple very long-in-the-tooth Samsung tablets, and an old Nook. I'm no WunderGeek. If I can pull it off it ain't that tough.

 

[grmcdorman]

Why do you think Apple is any better about this?

Apple tends to provide upgrades longer than Android device manufacturers, although they also eventually drop support. For example, Samsung, historically, has provided something like two major OS upgrades for their phones, which nowadays amounts to less than two years of support.

Mind you, the hardware may not be able to support the new stuff well, even if the OS upgrade is provided.

 

[grmcdorman]

...
I don't worry about the latest apps being compatible, or the battery to be great. But the most basic function, calling, was eventually slower than old flip phones I had in my teens. Call it what you will but there seems to be a deliberate approach to have basic functions slow down until they aren't worth dealing with.

That shouldn't happen, there may have been something else going on. I have never seen that on any of the phones I have had.

 

[Dr. Keith]

Actually it's pretty impressive, going seven years without an upgrade. I think the pace of the treadmill may be slowing, though. . Seven years is a bit much, but I'm going on four years now myself. Which I didn't expect, but here we are.

[ETA: this quote works, but I think I meant to quote your earlier post.]

Yeah, I got seven years out of my last laptop and I am in the seventh year on my current one. By this time on my last one it was driving me crazy and I was just procrastinating until I had to finally pull the trigger. Right now, I bet I could get three to four more years out of this thing is nothing horrible happens.

But laptops are very mature technology compared to phones. Phones used to be a near annual upgrade for most people, two years was being responsible. My last phone was well over two years old when I traded it in, and I only did so to change networks.I expect my current phone to last four years, at least.

 

[theprestige]

I do think it's kind of funny that Blue Mountain has had the same phone for seven years and still complains about being on the "upgrade treadmill" now that it's finally starting to become legitimately obsolete.

Like, dude, seven years with the same phone? You're living the dream. That's not the treadmill at all. That's a leisurely stroll through the park, stopping to smell all the flowers and watch all the birds. Enjoy your success!

 

[Dr. Keith]

I do think it's kind of funny that Blue Mountain has had the same phone for seven years and still complains about being on the "upgrade treadmill" now that it's finally starting to become legitimately obsolete.

Like, dude, seven years with the same phone? You're living the dream. That's not the treadmill at all. That's a leisurely stroll through the park, stopping to smell all the flowers and watch all the birds. Enjoy your success!

Indeed.

 

[carlitos]

Why should I have to get a new phone to replace a device that currently does pretty much everything I want it to do?

If I'm reading correctly, because you want to run some app from "Github."

 

[quadraginta]

I do think it's kind of funny that Blue Mountain has had the same phone for seven years and still complains about being on the "upgrade treadmill" now that it's finally starting to become legitimately obsolete.

Like, dude, seven years with the same phone? You're living the dream. That's not the treadmill at all. That's a leisurely stroll through the park, stopping to smell all the flowers and watch all the birds. Enjoy your success!

And I'm still not very clear on what he's complaining about since, according to him, it still does everything he wants.

Of course, if he wants to play Fortnite at 1440p and 120Hz he'll probably need an upgrade.