Fairphone champions long-term support of older phone models with Android 13 update of Fairphone 3(+)
Fairphone, the Dutch social enterprise building a market for ethical smartphones, has announced that the Fairphone models 3 and 3+ will be receiving an update to Android 13. Beta version roll-out has started today, with all users receiving the update by the end of June. The new update will take users of the Fairphone 3 and the Fairphone 3+ from Android 11 directly to Android 13.
This update to Android 13 is an example of Fairphone’s policy of providing software support for
its devices for as long as possible. Since support by the device’s chipset vendor has expired, Fairphone 3(+) software is now maintained directly by the Fairphone team who assessed the feasibility of updating the device to Android 13 right away. Fairphone has previously done the same with the recently discontinued Fairphone 2, skipping Android 8 and updating the device to Android 9 instead.
The Fairphone 3 was originally launched in 2019 with Android 9, the upgraded version, Fairphone 3+, followed in 2020. Both models are guaranteed to continue to receive software support until at least August 2024. However, Fairphone aims to support the phones for even longer, until 2026. This is a first for the Android ecosystem. Fairphone wants to push the industry to act more responsibly and maintain phones longer.
Nice! The question on everyone’s mind with a FP4 is probably; when will the FP4 get Android 13? And if that’s too much work to do, why not use the Android 14 beta to make sure we can get the next major update on time, when Android 14 stable is released.
Base Android 12 will get security updates until early next year supposedly, so early next year at the latest, I’d say. (Edit: Make that early 2025, actually, supposed Android 11 EOL would be early next year.)
But this topic is about the Fairphone 3/3+ .
I mean for the FP3 right, The upgrades from A10 to A13 are not operationally significant. background security is obscure to me.
So A10 or A20 is the security updates are up to date what do I care about the user interface on my ageing FP3. Isn’t that one of the extras after fair trade, I have a phone that’s use can be prolonged.
The only advantage of the FP3 over my old Samsung Alpha A4 is twofold a) I can use Wi-Fi calling b) I can use an SD card.
if I could update my Samsung to Wi-fi calling and an SD I would still be using it a lot more. Now it’s just a browser and a media player
You have to check the details better. Yes, security is one thing. Privacy is another. And then there are battery and performance improvements. Those have always been included in major upgrades, there are extra presents too. So yes, every major upgrade is a win. Don’t minimize progress.
Ha! What you see as progress I see as digress, a completely different philosophy on consumer use. Downgrade would be progress for me A4 for a start, but I have to play the game to be able to speak to the progressives, so skipping a step is sometimes the most intelligent way, no fear, no worry, no paranoia around the use of a phone.
What is going on today is no better that what going on yesterday. Some will gain at the expense of those that loose.
Progress for many is the city, how easy it is to digress, or is that off topic.
Progress for some is collecting rain and chopping wood and cultivating crops and developing a degree of autonomy. That may seem like progress too. Making more intimate use of what is and not looking for anything new, another form of progress.
What fun, come on A16 I just like the number 16, then 19 then 23 . . . Progression but not progress.
LineageOS has released their 20 version which is Android 13 and it runs smoothly.
It still runs kernel 4.9 but will be upgrade to a newer kernel once FairPhone releases one - phones do not run mainline due to required binary closed source modules for the hardware. Hopefully the announced release of Android 13 for the FP3(+) brings us that new kernel version.
If you have a look at the int/13/fp3 related branches at https://gerrit-public.fairphone.software/, you find from 4.9.337 over 4.14.309 up to 5.15.41, all with activities in the recent 2 months … Let’s cross the fingers they go for 5.15 …
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