this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2024
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Hi,

A friend wants to degoogle his phone, so I suggested the OS I'm currently using. The one we can't talk about... He wants a small/compact phone, so I suggested pixel 4a (not buying second hand though), but I'm afraid that planned obsolescence may kill the phone rather soon. What's your opinion?

Cheers and thank you for your help,

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Yes, it's too old. Does not receive software updates anymore. The newer a-series of phones are still quite a bit larger than the 4a but also quite a bit smaller than the 8 or especially 8 "Pro" or whatever the fuck stupid name they're giving phones these days.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (2 children)

The software updates are maybe not an argument when it comes to degoogling? Then it depends if the OS they plan to use still sends updates.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

The hardware driver updates are absolutely critical if you want to have a secure phone. The phone has to be within the support window, to get any hardware driver updates. The risk surface of a phone's hardware is huge, you've got the Bluetooth drivers, you've got the Wi-Fi drivers, you've got the modem drivers, and any other sensors I may have forgotten about.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

I mean...you're gonna have to run some operating system on it. And that operating system is going to need security updates.