Comment by esaym | Hacker News Reader

Comment by esaym | Hacker News Reader

About 18 months ago I bought a Samsung S6 off of ebay new in a box for $250. Was actually my first "real" smart phone. I've liked it quite a bit but was disappointed at them taking 8+ months to bring android updates. I was thinking I might get Oreo this August or so. But then I just learned that they've (Sumsung) discontinued all S6 support. So now I guess I'm screwed.

I really liked the samsung health app and the built in heart monitor. And I use samsung pay. I don't think any other phone has this and I would like to stay with samsung. But as I sit here and type this on a desktop running Debian that I built in 2008... I really can't support a company that thinks their hardware is only good for 3 years before you need to throw it in the trash.

Any tips? I don't really want to root and load a rom (and plus that would make me loose samsung pay and wifi calling I think).

> Any tips?

Don't buy Samsung? I learned this lesson a long time ago.

But what to buy instead? The only option seems to be an iPhone. Or is there an android vendor with longer support?

Yeah - buy a stock Android phone from Google, like their Pixel flagship.

Looks like even google is only 2 or three years though

I might just have to move to iPhone. Though I haven't even bought an apple product in my 35 years...

Keep it as is? I have a Samsung tablet from a few years back that got a single major OS update and has run smoothly and perfectly as the day I got it.

My iPhone got a huge number updates over it's lifespan but it also got steadily slower and less reliable after each one.

There is nothing in Oreo or even P that's really worth it.

Except for kernel updates.

Why? Security?

Yup.

That's probably what the reality will be. But I hate the idea of once I do 'upgrade' after a few years of no support, that the current version of Android will be so different that I'll have to relearn how to use it again...

What does Android do? It shows you your app, lets you switch them, and gives you some notifications. An operating system exists to run applications -- there isn't much to learn. Even switching from iOS to Android and back isn't that difficult.

The real issue will be when applications stop supporting your version. I found on iOS that support for older versions dies pretty quick but on Android applications seem to support older versions for a very long time.

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