My cheap android phone hasn't had a security update since 2021 but I still like it and everything else about it is fine. What do I do? I've seen suggestions to use LineageOS but my (obscure and unknown) model doesn't appear to be supported.For what it's worth I don't do anything important on my phone, but still, if a hacker had access to my phone number or email it could do a lot of damage.
>>107876527buy a new disposable android phone (they are all disposable)
>>107876527Switch google account to a throwaway to minimize damage if you do get hacked I guess. Also reboot phone regularly, verified boot is capable of flushing some malware out.>>107876537This is very old but it basically held true until like a few years ago for many low end Android phones. Budget Motorola phones used to drop support after 2 years, now they bumped it up to 3 years. I think their higher end phones at least get 4-5 years now. As of last year Google and Samsung are promising 7 years of updates so they're finally somewhat comparable to Apple.
>>107876537I don't want to consoom, I like my current phone>>107876573>Switch google account to a throwaway to minimize damage if you do get hacked I guess. Also reboot phone regularly, verified boot is capable of flushing some malware out.That's a good idea, thanks!
all updates do is fuck with your ui and install more spywareit's not like security is actually a priority with self-inflicted surveillance devices
>>107876527Buy a recent google pixel when on sale, they will probably be supported a long time at least 5 years from launch. Some a models, eg pixel 9a can go for 400 dollars or less. When flashed with graphene os they are one of the most secure phones available.But to be honest, what threat model are you applying? Unless you are a really interesting person, I don't think you would be the target of an attack where an attacker compromises your phone os to access your phone number. Unless you download an app that exploits a vulnerability in the phone os directly, the apps would have to have a vulnerability itself to allow for code execution.If you like the phone, continue using it but don't download random apps, limit web browsing to unknown sites, remove sensitive information.
In the mean time graphene gets several a week at times, to the point of being inconvenient.
Don't worry.Because nothing ever happens.
>>107878074just ignore them and update once a month. solved.
>>107876527my android 8 phone didnt get any updates since 2018still works fine for newpipe and firefox
