how hard is it actually when you can do a security update for month or date X, then do the same over a mere month later. it cant be that of a brain work and reinventing everything from scratch just moving over to the next months releases directly based on the google aosp project etc. after all fairphone doesnt do (?) much customisation or any at all? i could be wrong with this though. still my knowledge is, that fairphone as a company has gotton themselves external coding support in taiwain? or mainland china for the android releases? no matter where this external team is or if it is even an internal team by now and own knowledge, the current hardware level of fairphone4 is pretty mainstream and basic i guess, also hardware support (read qualcom snapdragon) is nothing fancy and available. so returning back to my understanding. if you managed (in any such way) to release just ONE single monthly or point in time security update, why can you not manage the same feat over again 31-40days later? the same way over again? and again. and again? i am not the software engineer here. i am absolutely oversimplifying things. but once you have found your way around. and maybe did a security release or two? what hinders you to do so in a speedy manner within a month after that? I recall during early FP2 times, that fairphone was rather quick with some of their monly android updates. what happened every since? why is the software security and the user base such a low priority? what has become of fairphone? i am frustrated. 
Every release has to go through rigorous testing, not only by Fairphone and Google, but also for every network operator the device has to be usable with. There is an enormous amount of variables involved here.
This isn’t just a simple merge changes and click deploy.
You have to pack as much as possible into one release, because it takes so much time to get that release actually onto consumer devices.
At the same time it has to be thoroughly tested, because you can A) completely screw up their phones and B) support absolutely hasn’t the capacity to deal with any more bugs that you might have introduced with your new release.
In short, this is a very complicated process and it takes time if you want it done right.
Before a new update is pushed it has to be certified by Google which requires over 500,000 tests. Then each network has to vet the update before they push it to the customers.
If you want quicker updates to the basic AOSP you can try custom ROMs and help out by doing some testing or coding etc.
Before they push it? I bought my Fairphone 4 directly from the local electronics store. Then logically, the networks should have zero impact on the delivery speed of said updates. Unless I misunderstood and the operators in every country has tests that Fairphone has to pass regardless of where you bought it?
I’m genuinely curious what is causing this delay in security updates, as we’re consistently a month behind. Basically, which parts of the updates are causing this delay? Is it simply the 500k tests or is it that Fairphone has strayed too far from AOSP?
If you want quicker updates to the basic AOSP you can try custom ROMs and help out by doing some testing or coding etc.
I happily would, but as I stated before: I’m not risking bricking my device due to this issue still being around, or so it seems: Trapped in fastboot mode with locked bootloader and corrupted custom ROM
No, the mobile providers get a chance to do a function-check of the updates. This is to ensure everything (from download speeds to VoWiFi) is working fine. Yes, in the end it is Fairphone giving its okay, but they surely don’t want to risk delivering an update which renders your device unusable. So there can be weeks of delay depending on your provider, due to a slow response time or because they really have to fix a provider specific bug.
Just don’t lock your bootloader and you are fine. LOS for example has a long explanation posted on reddit (iirc) why this isn’t recommended anyway.
It would seem it’s not that simple. This user claims he tried to flash Stock and that broke his phone:
I can’t risk the phone breaking if I don’t like DivestOS.
But yeah, I’ll probably give it 2-3 months and then give it a shot.
This one applies after returning to stock rom as well, yes.
You can check get_unlock_ability and risk to lock it again if it’s a 1, but I personally just left my bootloader unlocked even after returning to stock for some weeks.
When you buy from a store you get the basic OS which clearly has been tested before retail with all the carriers so no matter which you buy it should work fine, maybe not in every situation.
Once you then choose a network or carrier you are then, for future updates, locked to the network|carrier you use as the next upgrade|update will come via the net|car not the factory.
Right… got a source for this? I’m under the impression that I download it over the internet, which in my case is over the WiFi, and that my carrier has no impact on this whatsoever.
You are correct in that it can come over the internet but it can come via network data. Either way Fairphone decide which networks get it and when,
There’s a note on the forum accompanying the announcement of each update. For example:
If you search you will find a number of users that switch SIMs to get an update, which of course may not be optimal.
Absolutely fascinating. I have a carrier with less than 50k users so I doubt I’m affected by this, but it’s truly fascinating nonetheless.
Oh well, DivestOS it is once Android 13 is released for that.
I really take this with a (huge) grain of salt ‘It has to be certified by Google which requires over 500,000’. You run the test suites and submit the results, let’s not make this out to be rocket science. And, carriers due have testing that they do, but those are independent.
I suspect that the real issue is that everyone and their families were locked down in Shenzhen.
What, I think, would be helpful, would be for Fairphone to post anticipated dates, telling someone something will be late is better than avoiding the conversation. Even the smaller companies do this, so not a real strech to ask for it.
Really? Do you have any other reason other than you love of salt
Here’s an old example
“To get Google certification for Android 9 for Fairphone 2 just as we hit five years of support for the smartphone is a huge achievement for Fairphone,” says CEO of Fairphone Eva Gouwens. “In order to get certification, we had to pass approximately 477,000 Google tests.”
Five-year-old Fairphone 2 getting updated to almost three-year-old Android 9 - The Verge
Got to love the Verge 
Cert testing is called play protect. We provide hundreds of tests to ensure Play Protect certified devices adhere to the Android security and permissions model and have software builds with recent security updates. Play Protect certified devices are also required to ship without pre-installed malware and include Google Play Protect, a suite of security features such as automatic virus scanning and Find My Device. This provides baseline protection against malware, privacy hacks and more.
On top of that they will have to run the SOC, radios and camera tests by their OEM partners. But its not rocket science and they are run all day long in a CI loop.
Still, best practice would be for fairphone to publish something. And keep in mind I’m a huge fan, would not own another phone. I very much believe in their mission and ethical stance.
Kinda?
Back when I interacted with people in the field even if a phone wasn’t sold through a network operator - which isn’t actually all that common in many countries - then the manufacturer would still ask all relevant network operations for testing beforehand.
Which makes sense. If your country has, say, 3 networks, you wouldn’t want customers of any of them - or even owners who switch network later - to lose service because of a bug that wasn’t tested for beforehand.
Well the networks don’t have to but if they don’t vet an update it’s more likely to have glitches. The main point is that Fairphone release the updates via the networks so you are bound to a large degree on when you get an update dependent upon which network you buy into.
The option otherwise is that after Fairphone have ‘enough’ feed back from networks they offer a download via their website and you can install it manually.
It doesn’t mean it is absolutely sorted to your network, Vodafone, although partnering with Fairphone often seem to have issue in Germany. EE in the UK always seems to get it very quickly without any issues 
Is the new version of LineageOS that appears to be available for the FP4 based upon Android 12?
LineageOS isn’t officially available now, but it will be based on Android 12.
See here:
i was watching Fairphone 4 for some time and wanted to know that will this phone get android 12? i’ve not seen it’s name on android 12 update list.
Hi and welcome, yes its being worked on and will hopefully come in Q4