After greater than seven years and 43 software updates, the second generation of the Fairphone Android smartphone is finally reaching the top of software support. The company says today’s Android 10 software update can be the last on the phone, ending an incredibly long period of support for the phone, which originally ran Android 5 when it went on sale in 2015. Not bad considering Fairphone says it originally hoped to support the phone with “three to 5 years” of updates.
These kinds of long support periods are vital to Fairphone given the corporate’s emphasis on sustainability for its devices. In addition to attempting to ethically source the materials that go into each of its phones, the corporate also designs them to be easy to repair (with substitute parts available for years after release) and likewise guarantees long periods of software support. All this in order that the devices serve longer and don’t find yourself in landfills.
“We recommend that you simply avoid using apps that access sensitive data after May 2023.”
Fairphone explained what the top of this support period means for the roughly 15,000 Fairphone 2 phones still in use today blog post earlier this yr. In short, the top of software support doesn’t suggest the remainder of the phones will break immediately, but any bugs or security issues found won’t be fixed in the longer term.
“We recommend avoiding the usage of apps that access sensitive data after May 2023; if there’s a serious vulnerability that Fairphone 2 is vulnerable to, we cannot give you the option to repair it,” wrote Agnes Crepet, head of Fairphone Software Longevity. “Some security-critical apps – reminiscent of banking apps – will consider the device obsolete over time and stop working altogether.”
The last major version of Android Fairphone 2 was version 10 it received stable release on handset last yr. Phone substitute parts can be available while supplies last.
“The end of the Fairphone 2’s life is bittersweet because in a super world we might support our devices indefinitely, but because of industry and financial constraints, this is just not feasible,” Crepet said in a press release. “But we’re blissful to say we have supported the Fairphone 2 for an unprecedented seven years.”
