How long can I go with an obsolete phone?
Right now, I have a Samsung Galaxy A12 phone, which has done everything I need for quite some time. It was bottom of the barrel in the Samsung lineup, and it quit receiving updates of any kind back in November of 2024. For a cheap phone, I've been pleased with it.
My use case is unusual. I rarely use my phone to go online, but on occasion, I am forced to do so. Most of the time I use it to make calls, or send and receive texts. SMS is fine for me. I don't play games on it, though I do use the camera now and again.
One slightly unusual task is tethering. When my internet goes down on my computers at home, the mobile network is often still available, so I tether my desktop to the phone connection. Visible will slow the connection speed tremendously, so I use an app that disguises the tether connection, and I get full speeds. So I need this app to work when the main internet connection goes wonky.
One year and eight months without security updates makes me a little more cautious about using the phone for anything online. I don't use it for bank accounts or credit cards, no instant payments of any kind, and there are no passwords saved within it. Even if I still got updates, I wouldn't use it for any type of financial transactions. I don't even check email with it.
In reality, a dumb phone would probably work for me, but Visible is notoriously picky about Android phones they will accept. And I don't use Apple for anything. No plans to change that.
I have been more and more interested in ditching Google software. I was recently forced to switch to Google Messages, since Samsung is turning their messaging app out to pasture. A Pixel 10a with GrapheneOS is something I'm considering. Visible will accept any modern Pixel phone, so they aren't a problem.
The question is, is any change necessary with how little I use the phone online? Perhaps I should just wait till the battery dies, but that doesn't help me in my efforts to de-Googlize.
Given your priorities, either go ahead and make the change to an pixel 10a, or buy a refurbished even cheaper/older pixel phone that supports Visible and GrapheneOS.
Sometimes we can't avoid a certain company and the only one we're beating up is ourselves. We can aim for "less dependence on" instead of "totally clean and free from". Let time do its thing. For example IBM eventually became a non-essential part of corporate landscape, and one day soon so will Microsoft. Aim for a refurbished unit so they don't get your money is probably good enough as far as sheer hardware goes. With the money saved you can also switch to another phone that perfectly fits your criteria should one appear.
The reason I made the switch from older/dumber phones to a Pixel 9a with Graphene is that even if you only use a device for phone and texting, if you're no longer receiving security patches you can wind up being vulnerable to baseband-level attacks (SMS/MMS), or vulnerabilities in the network and bluetooth stacks. Also if you live in or travel to a country where they mess with your device at the border (US, China, etc.) you're making it easy for them to snoop and/or install spyware.
Maybe I'm being paranoid, but it makes me feel a bit better knowing I'm doing everything I can to keep up to date security-wise, especially these days with AI being used to find vulnerabilities and develop exploits at a pace we've never really seen before.
Yeah, I'm probably overreacting to possible threats, but like you, I prefer to keep updated on security whenever possible.
This, more than functionality, is the reason I'm considering a new phone.
I'd wait for a new Motorola with GrapheneOS, but it looks like they are concentrating on premium models first, and they'll be out of my price range.
As long as the battery is good and can use the functions you want to. I don't see why you have to buy a new one.
For your use cases, it should be fine to switch over. The issue may come when certain apps update and lock you out because of BS reasons, or if some external force necessitates that you use a "standard" smartphone.
There was an article posted on Tildes a long time back that talked about how it's getting harder to actually go without a smartphone. I even commented on my experience using a Windows Phone instead of something good, which may as well have been a dumbphone with all the use it was getting. It may be worth reading the article, the comments, and thinking about what apps you may actually use.
Nota bene: I've had several other instances where using a dumbphone would have caused me inconvenience since then. Openpath, especially, is a bitch and a half. Why the hell should I need a phone to open a door?
My thanks to everyone who has replied.
I'm pretty sure my current phone will continue to function well for me in the roles that I expect from it for many months to come. Battery life is still very good. But security is a primary concern, and freedom from the Google Overlord would be a plus.
You've hit most of the viewpoints I've been bouncing around in my skull for a while, so maybe I understand the options well enough. I'll probably mull this one over for a while yet. Maybe I'll look at the new Motorola phones with GrapheneOS, but as I mentioned, I think they'll be more than a Pixel 10a.
Some people are still running Android 2.3 and even older: https://old.reddit.com/r/androidafterlife/
From the security side of things it's definitely better to be running Android 12 or newer as these older Android releases have unpatched exploits like Stagefright where an attacker could trigger an RCE simply by sending a specifically crafted MMS message or hosting a malicious media file on a website.
eg. https://blog.checkpoint.com/research/certifigate/
If you are looking for a cheaper but still extremely capable phone (except the camera quality is a bit shit) definitely look into the Xiaomi POCO phones like the POCO X8 Pro. However, if you're paying for a mobile phone plan you might be able to get a "free" phone or partially subsidized by future phone plan payments.
Late, but I'm still stuck on why you're stuck with Google either way. Either you make the jump to GrapheneOS (and drop Google), or you could just run adb disable on all Google software you don't want now.
The latter means better performance and dramatically better battery life, and you get to test which apps you can use without Google early. Further, unless you're expecting baseband attacks (which aren't exactly common), the safest thing to do is drop all proprietary apps - an opaque app with malicious dependencies, Meta-supplied SDKs, or generally poor respect for the users' privacy is the much more likely threat, and minimizing non-FOSS apps is something you're planning to do anyways as you de-Google in the future.
Purging Google from your current handset is all upside
I agree with degoogling, but I'd like to have a good foss alternative to maps for navigation/aauto. OSMAnd / Comaps & gmaps-on-the-browser are pretty good for all purposes but this. (Disclaimer: I degoogled anyway, and use my wife's phone for navi :))
Truth be told, so would I. I've resorted to using OSM when out'n'about, looking up directions on desktop before leaving, and (as a last resort) OSM's spoken turn-by-turn directions, as my areas are reasonably well mapped - and if they aren't, they're added to my to-do list lol
I bought the Pixel3 when the price dropped on the Pixel4 was announcement. I used it until the price was cut on the Pixel9 when the 10 was announced. It went for years w/o update from Google. Only got a new one cause the phone was damaged. I got the Pixel9 for the Graphene option but haven't made that jump yet.
I'm on my third phone in 12 years and I've only had this phone for two years or so (Pixel 8a with GrapheneOS). You can go a long long time. I honestly would have used my last two phones longer if I could have reasonably replaced the battery as I really liked both phones. I'd like this phone more if it had a headphone jack.
Based on what you say, I don't see any issues so long as it still performs the functions you want. In fact, I don't think the security risks are that significant...? I have a Samsung Galaxy S9 from 2018/2019, and I still use it normally for the most part and have had no problems. Most recently, Gmail HAS given me some pop-up about how I may need to update my OS in the nearish future to keep using the app...? But it works fine for now, so... ¯\(ツ)/¯
Though I guess this explains why it never bugged me to update the OS when my mom's phone did. I just thought it was my phone being low on memory. I had no clue that official updates ended for it until now, which should tell you how fine it continues to operate even while "obsolete".
So I think so long as Visible works, you should be fine to keep it, especially with how minimally you use it.
I recently got a candy bar/smartphone hybrid (Qin F25) that I really like with a LineageOS-based build on it (Dumber OS). The guy that made the OS also now has his own dumb phone https://dumbermini.com/ that I'm hoping to get in December as it;s even smaller. But it does everything that's needed and not nearly as expensive as a Pixel. Maybe these types of phones would be interesting to you?
I won't be buying a Pixel again -- the repairability is a disaster!
I'm pretty sure I got the phone in Dec of 2022. The battery is not easily replaceable, no.
Surprised to not see any suggestions for a Fairphone here. It's a little expensive, but you get a 10 year security update commitment, and all the important components are purchasable/user replaceable. The people in the manufacturing chain are also paid livable wages, which increases the price. You can also get it de-Googled out of the box for you. I will say that I never used the de-Googled variant, so I don't know how good/bad of an experience that would be.
I owned a Fairphone 4, and would have kept using it if I didn't have an insatiable need for a small phone that you can use with one hand. I'd buy a Fairphone Mini in a heartbeat if they made one with a 5" or less screen.
https://murena.com/america/shop/smartphones/brand-new/murena-fairphone-6/?wcpbc-manual-country=US
After I broke my screen, I went back to the old Samsung A6+ from 2018. It works so long as battery lasts. The older android version can be an issue with modern apps, but its rare.
If you have at least 4G support & acceptable battery life & your apps work on the older phone, staying on your old device should be OK.
Mate, i even still use asus m2 pro from 2018. It's just stuck on android 9