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Comment by franga2000 | Hacker News Reader

franga2000·

What do telcos have to do with any of this? The only piece of software that has anything to do with my telco is running on the SIM. They do not and, as far as I know, can not load software on my device, let alone control something OS-level like software updates

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In the US carriers do affect the update process for carrier locked phones. I'm sure there are other places where similar practices take place.

huh, I've never seen something like that in the EU, except on early Samsung and HTC smartphones. These days you get completely standard Android even when buying on contract

I have. One of my previous phones was Vodaphone-unlocked so I could use it with my carrier BUT it displayed the vodaphone logo on boot/shutdown

> When you'll get Android updates

> Update schedules vary by device, manufacturer, and mobile carrier.

> If you have a Pixel phone, learn when you’ll get updates.

> If you have another Android device, contact your manufacturer or carrier for info.[1]

[1] https://support.google.com/android/answer/7680439?hl=en

A lot of US carriers provide the OS updates with branding and junkware rather than the device manufacturer.

Also for others concerned about privacy, your carrier can push applets onto the SIM card itself which can do a lot. Malicious actors in the past have exploited devices via applets such as Simjacker and WIBattack

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