Comment by wolvesechoes
6 months ago
I don't want a new phone. I am more interested in keeping older phones alive, because they are usually more than capable for my usage (banking app, web browser, maps), and the only problem is lack of updates. Thus I am more interested in LineageOS.
E-waste is bigger problem for me than few security improvements.
The patches provided by LOS aren't anywhere close enough to keep the phone secure/private. LineageOS breaks android security model in all but selected few devices, mainly Pixels I think. Your phone is very likely more secure by sticking to the original OS your phone shipped with.
My old phone is vulnerable to a kernel RCE by anyone in the vicinity for simply having Bluetooth enabled. I doubt my phone is more secure sticking with the original OS.
I am interested in why the LineageOS patches are causing security issues, though. Do you know where I can read more about this?
https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm
https://www.kuketz-blog.de/lineageos-weder-sicher-noch-daten... (use browser's or google's translate)
GOS developers have many numerous comments about this, if you google "LineageOS grapheneos" you should also find plenty of them.
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What do you think about selling your old phone, and buying a used Pixel? This would get you a Graphene-approved phone, but generate no e-waste.
My Pixel 4a is perfect phone for me (I hate big phones), but Graphene dropped support quite while ago.
The most recent 3 generations of Pixels have 7 years of support rather than the 3 provided by the Pixel 4a. Pixel 4a no longer has driver or firmware updates or official support for current Android releases, so GrapheneOS doesn't officially support it anymore. We did provide extended support releases and legacy extended support releases past end-of-life until earlier this year (2025012701 was the last one), but lack of community support led to those being paused and few people still use the legacy devices based on update server stats of update check counts.
It's why 5-7 years of support are one of the requirements our OEM partner has to provide to meet our official list of requirements published at https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices. We'd like to require 7 years of support to match Pixels but didn't want to raise the bar too high. We can settle for 5 and have OEMs work towards 7 for later devices after starting with a 5 year commitment.
I feel you. Phones move so fast, they require a lot of compromises from the user. I am currently using a Pixel 7a, 8mm longer and 3mm wider than the 4a, and I'm reasonably happy with it. Although to be honest, I also have my pet peeve with it - the build is not as nice as my previous Samsung Galaxy S9, and I miss that. You could also consider 8a, same size as 7a, and support will last even longer, so if you get accustomed to that, there will be no need to change for a while.
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