this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2026
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The past two phones I bought were not because they broke, but because they stopped being supported on apps that I need to use.
That's also included in the directive. Manufactures will be required to provide OS updates for at least 5 years "from the date of end of placement on the market" (which means the date the brand shipped the last device of a model).
They also have 4 months to release security updates and 6 months for functionality updates see ANNEX II for all device categories.
That is actually fairly reasonable. I use a 5 yr old Xiaomi which a has 8Gb (as much as an entry level Surface or MacBook. Fuck AI) an octacore CPU, great camera, ultra fast charge, great battery etc. But I realize most people change phones every 2-3 years regardless of how well their phone works, because of "shiny new thing"
Xiaomi 13T gang? 😁
Let me guess, iPhone?
Androids
Huh...I'm guessing banking apps? Those are the only ones that have ever given me problems on old Android devices
I'll literally change banks over that kind of thing now.
Been starting to see more randomly picky apps. Based on vintage and rooted device.
Uninstalled the FedEx app, since every time I tapped on a tracking number, it would divert to the app which would promptly shame me for having a rooted device and refuse to run.
yes
Doubtful. iPhones have the longest support of any phones out there.
Long, but not longest. Fairphone is longer.
Source?
As far as I know, nearly all flagship phones, Apple or otherwise, get about 7 years of update support (~~except Pixel phones with GrapheneOS which get 14~~ ignore; I remembered this incorrectly).
The difference is, even my old phone running Android 8 (a 9yo OS) can still browse the web, run all apps, and perform fine as a phone. An even older phone running Android 4.4 can still run 3rd party apps. iPhones seem to stop working about a year after they stop receiving updates, and they don't support sideloading (also know as running the software you want to run on the device you own).
The oldest iPhone that can run the latest iOS is the 11 from 2019. Apple is still providing security fixes all the way back to iOS 15, which goes back to the 6s released in 2015. So, somewhere between 7 and 11 years for Apple depending on what you are counting as support. As a personal experience, my partners iPad from 2017 still runs fine, though it is stuck on iOS 16 and only gets security updates.
Are you sure about 14 years of support? I think Graphene basically supports things as long as Google does, due to reliance on their source code releases. Double that would be impressive.
https://grapheneos.org/faq
Ah thanks, my bad; I must have remembered incorrectly. I've updated my original comment
Your Android 8 phone absolutely can not run every app lol. That’s a straight up lie that even people here won’t believe.
iPhones have the longest security update and os update plan out of any manufacturer.
https://www.tomsguide.com/phones/9-phones-with-the-longest-software-support-samsung-iphone-pixel-and-more
Also worth noting that up until about 3 years ago finding an Android phone that was supported for even 4 years was almost impossible. Apple have been doing 6-7 years of full OS version updates and 8+ years of security updates almost since the start.
https://www.reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/1upwfda/lets_be_real_no_company_beats_apple_in_terms_of/
Oh trust me, I'm no fan of Samsung, but I tend to value control of my devices over...whatever it is Apple does. I had an iPhone until I discovered replacing the home button myself artificially bricked the device due to DRM forcing customers to go to an Apple store for repairs. Never again