iPhones and Androids could soon keep working for much longer

Date:
Mon, 06 Sep 2021 08:54:37 +0000

Description:
The EU is being pushed to make phone makers offer more long-term software support.

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Android smartphones could soon be safe to use for a lot longer, and its all thanks to the German federal government, which is trying to get the European Union to require smartphone makers to offer seven years of security updates and spare parts.

Thats according to German tech news site Heise Online , and right now, most Android phones only come with around three years of security updates, and thats true even if you drop four figures on a top-end handset.

Some such as the Samsung Galaxy S21 range now come with four years of
security updates, but thats at the very top end, so a move to seven years would be a huge improvement. To a lesser extent this would also benefit
iPhone users, as Apple tends to top out at around five or six years of software support. These are the best Android phones Check out the best smartphones Android 12 is on the way

Its worth noting here that security updates dont bring new features, so
theres no guarantee youd get more new versions of Android or iOS if this proposal passes, but your phone would be kept safer from security vulnerabilities.

Whether this will happen though is currently unclear. Theres already a proposal on the table for five years of support, and both that one and this seven-year one have faced resistance from smartphone makers, which broadly want the requirement to just be three years.

So it remains to be seen whether either proposal will actually be approved, let alone the longer seven-year one, but this shows that theres at least a push to improve the situation. (Image credit: TechRadar) Opinion: longer support is vital

The arguments in favor of offering more long-term security updates for smartphones are many and varied, and weve covered them extensively in the past. But the main reason for it, is that it means you can keep safely using your phone for longer.

Once it stops getting security updates it becomes more vulnerable to hackers and other issues, so ideally you should be upgrading, but many people either wont want to or wont be able to afford to do that every two or three years, especially if theyve bought an expensive phone. Indeed, wed argue that its completely unreasonable to only offer a few years of support for a high-end handset.

Many people also probably arent even aware of the threats their un-updated phones face, so by providing security updates for longer, phone manufacturers would be keeping their customers safe, even if those customers dont realize it.

Making it viable to use phones for longer is also good for the environment of course, as people wouldnt necessarily be ditching their old phones so often.

That, of course, is one reason manufacturers might not want to support this, as theyre in the business of wanting people to upgrade their phones. Additional security updates also probably add to their costs.

But from a consumer and environmental perspective this extended support would be massively beneficial, and while this proposal would only affect EU countries, theres a fair chance that manufacturers might roll these updates out globally once theyve gone to the trouble of preparing them. So this is something we really want to see. Take a look at all the best Android apps

Via Engadget



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/iphones-and-androids-could-soon-keep-working-fo r-much-longer/


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