[sdkfjalsdgj]

> Users of android phones have little hope to run a program from 5 years ago

Android is actually much much better than iOS. For some older unmaintained apps I've dug out the APKs and most of them run without major issues, though a scary warning saying it's designed for older versions of Android.

[bitsandboots]

Yeah, not all hope is lost, but good apps do get delisted for not complying with whatever Google dictates on the Play store, so you have to make good backups of content that only exists there! Which is a really great reason to use f-droid instead of course.

[everyone]

I, and clients of mine, have a bunch of stuff on the play stores. google is going bananas recently, aggressively trying to delist every app it seems..

Every few months they force you to upload new builds that use the latest "api level" .. This change makes zero difference to how the app functions.

Its a massive pain updating them and I have let several apps lapse and be taken down cus I couldnt be bothered jumping though googles arbitrary hoops.

Which I guess is google's aim, and also that they are doing this to clear as much space as they can and save a small amount of money on storage, as part of their general enshittification process.

[themacguffinman]

> This change makes zero difference to how the app functions.

That's not true, different api levels have different restrictions and defaults even if you don't change any of your app code, that's why they force you to target a new api level.

For example, one Android 15 change is "Apps that target Android 15 must be the top app or running an audio-related foreground service in order to request audio focus.", or another one "For apps targeting Android 15, the `elegantTextHeight` `TextView` attribute becomes `true` by default".

It's not always a no-op. There's zero chance that storage costs are the concern here, they've long struggled to fix overly permissive APIs and poorly designed legacy APIs on apps that target old api levels.

[mcsniff]

"Every few months"?

Android has a yearly release to target a new API and this has been in place for quite some time, it's not really arbitrary.

Do I agree with it? Not really, but let's at least be honest with the time line -- and if you want to keep your apps available, the very least is a once-a-year update, shouldn't be that difficult...

[borntoolate]

It's similar to their optimization of the web for their customers. To remain indexed you have to jump through all their hoops which means you derive income and therefore are at least potentially an advertiser.

[everdrive]

>Android is actually much much better than iOS.

- Unless you don't want Google to know your location constantly, no matter what setting you use for the GPS chip.

- Unless you want security updates past a year.

[akimbostrawman]

Android does not inherently mean google connections. The most private and secure phone OS GrapehenOS, is based on Android Open Source Project.

Ironically Googles Pixel phones have the longest support of any phone OS with guaranteed at least 7 years of security updates.

[Barrin92]

>- Unless you want security updates past a year.

That's not been the status quo any more for a while since the EU started to mandate several years of OS and security updates. Samsung and I believe Google as well have stated they'll do 7 years of udates.

https://security.samsungmobile.com/workScope.smsb

[eigen]

> As of January 2024, we are extending our security update support for Samsung Galaxy devices by up to 7 years, to help our users enjoy the latest Galaxy experiences longer and securely. 1

> 1 Availability and timing of Android OS upgrades and security updates may vary by market, network provider and/or model.

note that it says "up to 7 years" and may vary by market. and has only been in effect for 15 months so there isnt a track record to say it will actually happen.

[wkat4242]

The up to is because some of the really cheap budget phones have less support duration (though still 4 or 5 years)

[akimbostrawman]

They sell the phone with a guarantee of at least 7 years. If they break it they will get sued.

[hulitu]

> Unless you don't want Google to know your location constantly

On my phone it is off and stays off. Unlike on iOS when it turns itself on.

[johnea]

If your wifi is enabled, then the GPS makes almost no difference for goggle geo-location.

Their map of wifi SSIDs allows pretty accurate geo-location, with no GPS.

This doesn't apply to you if you travel in an area with no wifi hotspots. The hotspots don't need to be publicly acessible, only the SSID needs to be visible for the hotspot to serve as a geo-location waypoint.

[spookie]

Sony does at least 4 years of updates.