I’m using a Pixel running 17 and I honestly can’t think of a single feature of 17 - or even 16 - that I actually care about. A few UI tweaks but I’m not sure I’d even call them improvements, just that: tweaks.
Frankly, I’d be happy on a device running 14 or 15 as long as the security updates keep coming.
I ran 15 on my Pixel 9 Pro up until I installed Graphene last week, skipping 16 entirely.
On of my phones has android 8 and I honestly couldn’t care less from a usage standpoint
As long as we have Google Play Services installed Google only marginally cares version of Android we are running
I’m on android 13, and my phone hasn’t received updates in years.
Hackers rubbing their hands together, thinking of all the unfixed vulnerabilities
“I can’t wait to take control of really old mobile hardware”
It’s more about stealing your passwords and stuff like that. Crypto wallets, password managers, bank apps, 2FA apps, 2FA text codes… People put a lot of their life on their phone.
My phone won’t update. It’s out of my control. Thanks, KNOX…wait… kNOX is Samsung… not sure what bullshit has my Motorolla locked down from Verizon…
you can probably gain temporary root using one of the recent linux vulnerabilities like ghostlock, then you might be able to hack around and find a way to unlock the bootloader
Slap LOS on it or something. If there is a device maintainer you could still get security updates.
Not sure I can. It’s a Verizon motorolla. I don’t have access to anything but clearing the cache. Last I checked, nothing’s allowed on these things.
Have you tried searching the model number on XDA forums?
If their phone is so old that it’s running 13 I wouldn’t be surprised if Lineage no longer officialy supports it. It’s not magic, it’s a lot of work to support old phones and isn’t always even possible.
I don’t think 4 years ago is that old for technology nowadays, people have been saying for the past 6-7 years that yearly phone upgrades don’t feel too different. Most devices from the past 5 years should be capable to run 17 unless they want the AI stuff or their RAM is really low.
It’s not about capability, it’s about hardware support. If the manufacture of the chip isn’t providing updates its difficult to impossible to provide OS updates.
You should look into the reasons why android OS upgrades are so difficult to come by. It’s more complex than you realize.
you don’t do kernel updates for custom roms (other than backporting a few things that’s needed)
if a device got android 13 officially it’s definitely possible to get android 17 running on it technically
LineageOS also took some time to build an Android 17 release, and to get it out to all devices.
I have it as of a couple weeks ago. Biggest difference I’ve noticed: it no longer shows the battery level for my Bluetooth headphones.
Huh. I’m on LOS 24 and the bluetooth battery indicator is still there for me
A quick search told me it’s a common Android 17 glitch, not by design, and not specific to LineageOS. I haven’t tried to troubleshoot more.
I don’t even know what mine is. There’s been a software update waiting since the day I bought it but I never installed it. I update my OS when I switch devices every 7 years or so. Same applies to apps. I update them when I’m forced to. If it’s working I won’t touch it. Updates reliably makes everything worse. They fix bugs I’ve never ecountered and introduce new ones along with UI changes that I will.
Holy shit I’m finally part of the 1%.
Its not like most Android phones have a choice when the update comes (if at all), phone manufacturers push it out on their schedule. My ~3 year old phone just got the update last week.
Man, if only non-apple phone OSs were as easy to install and update as PC OSs are, those numbers would be very different
it doesn’t even really bother me not being on the latest version of Android, if only they provided security updates and bug fixes. It could be like an LTS distro, nice and stable.
But no, they just tell you to buy a new phone lol
And now computers are trending to be more like phone hardware… That’s going to be a problem
I actually just bought a new laptop from the 2020 era to replace my laptop from the 2012 era. Going from an Intel Core i7 3rd generation up to an Intel Core i5 11th generation
I’ve been running Linux on it all this time and so it’s been properly up to date with security fixes and stuff like that, but I’m using it for compiling software more now than I ever have in the past and the dual core 4 thread processor just isn’t up to the task.
If we provide them a way to provide us with more ads and tracking info when updated to the latest OS they will get us up to date ASAP!
17 is very underwhelming anyways.
Yeah, his sister is cuter.
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