Motorola recently released phones with awful update policies, but it the company may have found a loophole regarding EU update laws.

Motorola recently launched several phones with no Android updates but five years of security patches in Europe.

This could be due to the company’s interpretation of EU regulations regarding software updates.

It seems like the regulations don’t actually force smartphone makers to offer software updates at all.

  • IpsumLauren@lemmy.worldEnglish
    63·
    3 days ago

    So you don’t get a newer (not better) OS version that runs slower on old hardware… but instead they patch the original OS for security vulnerabilities. Where’s the issue?

      • ramble81@lemmy.zipEnglish
        10·
        3 days ago

        To my knowledge, has any Android API version been deprecated in under 5 years?

        • lath@piefed.socialEnglish
          2·
          3 days ago

          I read something about google’s play store requiring an API update every 2 years since late 2022, but i don’t know specifics.

          • 𝕸𝖔𝖘𝖘@infosec.pubEnglish
            1·
            3 days ago

            I’m not sure, but even if that’s true, there are other stores available on slightly older versions (fdroid, obtainium, aurora). Note, however, that some newer versions of android will prevent app installation outside of their official play store (they tag it as "side loading, but it’s actually just installation).

            Edit. Spelling.

        • arcterus@piefed.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          3·
          2 days ago

          New versions of chrome require Android 10 from what I understand. Presumably apps that are less essential will be more likely to remove support for older versions sooner.

          EDIT: I’ll also note here that even if an app “works,” it may be with degraded functionality (where the missing functionality is increasingly important). For instance, passkey support in external password managers requires Android 14.