Short support periods for smartphones and tablets are a big problem

How long is your phone supported?

Why do I even ask? The easiest way to hack a device is to use well-known exploits. Every published update reveals holes that unpatched phones still have! Hacking an up-to-date system is simply too expensive for a regular hacker.

So… how long is your tablet supported?

• Cheap Androids - not at all
• Mid-range Androids - 1 year
• Premium Androids - 2 years
• Google’s own Androids (and some premium ones, with security patches only) - 3 years
• iPhone/iPad - 3 years of all updates, plus 2 more years of security updates. But after a few years the updates seem to slow the device down…
• Chrome OS / Chromebooks - 5 years
• Windows 10 - unlimited?

And remember: the clock starts at the premiere, not on the day you buy the device!

What to do with an unsupported device?

• Use it for a DIY project or install custom firmware? Who does that - less than 1% of people?
• Sell it to a poorer country? And what will they do with it then?
• Throw it away? A waste of resources… The hardware is probably still good enough for most of our needs.

The whole mobile industry seems to be designed against ecology!

My problem

I wanted a tablet that lasts. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition - a premium device, 5 years old and unsupported… Now I regret the money. The screen is still gorgeous, much better than in the basic 9.7-inch iPad from 2018! But without updates I can do less and less with it, and nothing related to banking…

I replace only my phone every 1-3 years. Why replace a tablet that often? I don’t use it enough to wear it out.

I’ve checked the new Android tablets: their support is still short. Google seems to have forgotten about Android tablets (no new Google tablet for years)… in favour of Chrome OS on Chromebooks and 2-in-1 tablets! Those run Android apps too, work better as tablets and get 5 years of support!

But what can you do with Chrome OS?

Everything popular… but it’s still more a netbook than a tablet. I develop software in Scala, and a JDK or an IDE isn’t possible there. Chrome OS is for cloud apps, and I need some unpopular local ones.

Windows 10?

It has the longest support possible! It lacks apps, but I could work on it and emulate Android games… Still, it’s Windows, which needs more care to work like Linux.

A really good solution doesn’t exist

For now I’ll stick with a Linux laptop… and wait for a cheap alternative to the Surface Pro with 16 GB of RAM and 4 cores (why? Better screen proportions for reading, and a portrait mode).

Do you have any thoughts or suggestions? Feel free to comment.

And please make a change: look for devices with long-term security support.

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