398
From June 20: EU gives smartphones a repairability label and requires 5 years of guaranteed updates (www.heise.de)
submitted 1 day ago by Blaze@piefed.social to c/android@lemdro.id
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[-] IllNess@infosec.pub 6 points 10 hours ago

From this date, manufacturers will have to provide operating system and security updates for every smartphone or tablet for five years after the end of sales.

OS updates too? That's interesting.

I would've been fine with 2 years of security updates after 3 years of OS updates. OS updates do include security features but security updates are more important to the average consumer. Most people won't know what version of Android they are on. Most people wouldn't know if their 7 year old iPhone is no longer receiving updates.

[-] tauren@lemm.ee 46 points 1 day ago

5 years is not enough these days, smartphones can live longer than that. But that's a good start.

[-] someguy3@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Much better than the fucking 2 years of many Android phones. That's 2 years from launch, not from when you buy which could be one year in.

[-] jagged_circle@feddit.nl -3 points 1 day ago

I can't remember the last time I bought a phone that was made less than 5 years ago. This is a joke

[-] Gamechanger@slrpnk.net 25 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

5 years after end of sales. Thats better than anything currently on the market.

EU obliges manufacturers to provide updates for 5 years after the end of sale

[-] Abrinoxus@thelemmy.club 19 points 1 day ago

It aint much but it's honest work

[-] Luffy879@lemmy.ml 43 points 1 day ago

There are 2 Possibilities to this:

Either every phone gets an F-, or they set the bar so low that the Fairphone is 6 ranks above S tier

[-] Initiateofthevoid@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It's more than just a grading system, there's some hardware minimums for battery life/durability etc. and a clause for repairs regardless of the grade:

They must also ensure that spare parts are available for up to seven years after the product has been sold, offer at least five years of software support and provide professional technicians with non-discriminatory access to repair software.

[-] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I wonder where something like Unihertz phones could be. Recently a teardown video of one of those surprised me, and it seems they do quite a few phones that way. They have a bunch of rugged phones, and at least some of them appear to be screwed together rather than glued.

Honestly, I haven't even considered that was a possibility nowadays. Otherwise I'd probably get one of those over Ulefone. Based on videos I've seen, my Armor 24 is virtually irrepairable. You have to enter through the screen which uses very strong glue and is recessed into the body. Disassembly thus basically requires destroying the screen.

[-] unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.de 17 points 1 day ago

Unihertz never updates their phones. It's amazing, fairly repairable hardware, but software support is terrible.

It's sad. They could let the community handle it, but they won't.

[-] krash@lemmy.ml 1 points 23 hours ago

This. I was going to buy one on kickstarter, but their reply on planned updates wasn't reassuring.

[-] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Proudly rocking my 7 year old phone.

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 2 points 17 hours ago

Same, writihg this from Poco F1.

Coul have been the Galaxy S3 (12 years) but that didn't boot anymore after the full case & body replacement. 😟

[-] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 1 day ago

I'd still be using my 2017 Moto G5s Plus if it weren't for the dead battery and mostly gone (soldered-on) USB port.

It was fine with PixelExperience ROM, and I am sure I could still get something good onto it. But, it is what it is, an e-waste slab. I've run the battery down to 2 hours of standby time and the micro USB only works with very few cables at this point.

I do miss the 16:9 and separate navigation via the front fingerprint scanner.

[-] anamethatisnt@sopuli.xyz 14 points 1 day ago

Source of requirements:
https://energy-efficient-products.ec.europa.eu/product-list/smartphones-and-tablets_en#ecodesign-requirements

[-] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 13 points 1 day ago

I wonder how small manufacturers are going to do the 5 years of updates. I mean the brands that typically get no updates at all.

[-] notfromhere@lemmy.ml 22 points 1 day ago

Maybe they will band together to support a common base system that is more open? Wishful thinking I know…

[-] unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 1 day ago

Yeah, I mean, if I was Unihertz, I'd give all my drivers' code to LineageOS and sales would skyrocket. I don't know why they don't do this.

[-] notfromhere@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 day ago

Even just providing specifications and some documentation about the devices, someone might write a new driver. Reverse engineering is hard, having something to go off of means they can probably extend support from an existing driver fairly easily.

[-] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 1 day ago

The biggest issue is probably the MediaTek chipsets. Unlike Qualcomm, they don't provide the source code.

I only went with MTK based device for manual band selection. It can be done with root, but the only app for it I could find is network signal guru, and I am not sure about how trustworthy it is to give root access to.

[-] Damage@feddit.it 6 points 1 day ago

Without more detail we can't really speculate. Who decides what sort of update is required?

[-] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 6 points 1 day ago

Libre OSes do, what, 20 years? With volunteers

[-] Railcar8095@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago

I guess security only and once a year, if anything. It's going to be hard to enforce.

Even big OEM usually do slow updates after 2 years.

this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2025
398 points (99.8% liked)

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