But this contradicts the statement in the open letter from @anon55787294 that Android 14 is dropped in favor of A15 (that confirms the rumors).
So I would recommend to drop any expectations and start to hope for A15 somewhen next year.
But this contradicts the statement in the open letter from @anon55787294 that Android 14 is dropped in favor of A15 (that confirms the rumors).
So I would recommend to drop any expectations and start to hope for A15 somewhen next year.
It says:
Except I was just told by support (above
) that A14 is still being worked on? ![]()
UPDATE:
@xardasjhh yeah, A15 would be great, but ultimately it’s a moving target.
So A15 would be great to have this year ![]()
Also… words, contradicting words. I’ll believe it when I see it! ![]()
Well its not the first time support staff is the last to know…
Today, I found this news Fairphone 4: Darum bekommt das Modell kein Android 14 - teltarif.de News ![]()
Some one seems to read this forum, the article references to An open letter to the Fairphone community
I like this statement: "Man ist sich der schlechten Kommunikation bewusst und möchte sich bessern. "/
“They are aware of the poor communication and want to improve.”
It’s not acceptable for a company to leave its users in the dark for so long. The recent update and promise of better communication are welcome—but the damage to trust has been done, and rebuilding it won’t be easy. I still hope they follow through on all of it.
That said, we bought a phone with “fair” in the name—not just in terms of materials or how workers are treated, but also in the values it stands for. I’d love to see that same fairness reflected in how users treat each other and FP employees here. Anything less would feel hypocritical.
Looking forward to regular updates during the process toward the next Android version—be it 14, 15, or maybe even 16.
To be honest, I am really considering abandoning my FP4 soon and this news has pushed me in that direction too. I have so many glitches and bugs that some days is barely usable.
I bought it because I can repair myself and because of the long support. I can still repair but long support doesn’t look promising, even security updates they are not predictable.
Before abandoning FP4, have a look at the alternatives OS like LineageOS, CalyxOS, Iodé, /e/ etc.
It’s more up-to-date and it could solve your glitches & bugs. IMHO at least it is worth trying ![]()
… or practice some patience until it is clear, what the exact plan of FP is, to roll out the next OS for the FP4. ![]()
I am considering eOS actually, I read good things but I am not a big fan of this approach because I will have to abandon years of well lubed habits and I have made purchases linked to my Google/Android account that I can’t understand if I will be able to use again. I like to experiment but not on my main device, especially now that I have a small baby and little time to troubleshoot.
I have an iPhone 11 from work and - battery health aside - it’s still a rock solid device and you can find a shop to get an iPhone repaired everywhere nowadays. That’s another way to be fair.
Other than Google Wallet, all Google apps work fine under /e/ os so you won’t need to change your habits a lot.
paid apps might be tricky especially when paid “In-App”
I think this is a bit too care-free.
Google-dependent Apps (not only Google’s own Apps, but most of the popular Apps around today) tend to work well with /e/OS (via the included compatibility layer microG), but this isn’t guaranteed. Technically this can break for any such App at any time for any amount of time.
And then there are also Apps which are problematic from the start.
Before moving to /e/OS users should be aware of what is marketing and what is technical reality.
I decided to try CalyxOS while waiting for someone to buy the phone.
It works a lot better than stock. Almost frustratingly better. Fascinating.
I’m also thinking of abandoning FP4. I’ll wait until September so if Android 13 isn’t surpassed I think I’ll switch to a refurbished iPhone 13 or 14. For two years now I haven’t been able to use supports with the limited Bluetooth of version 13 (the Whoop band first and foremost…). When there are valid updates I’ll evaluate whether to re-enable FP4, or whether to sell everything (iPhone + FP4) to switch to a new FP6. But there will have to be guarantees from the company that have been disregarded to date.
I don’t think we’ll get Android 15 before the end of the year. I’ve had a device with limited bluetooth connectivity for over 2 years.
You forgot to specify which year… ![]()
Seriously now, I don’t know much about Bluetooth, but does the FP4’s chip support the feature you want? Because if it doesn’t, no driver update will fix that.
if anyone has solved this problem on FP4 with android 13 please let me know:
I didn’t dive in too deep into this, but it seems the problem is rather on Whoops side than on Androids/Googles, but especially this does not to seem to be a problem on Fairphones side.
I understand the frustration, but I don’t understand the direction of it.
Linux kernel LTS releases are once a year, usually near the end.
4.4 (Jan 2016)
4.9 (Jan 2017)
4.14 (Nov 2017)
4.19 (Nov 2018)
5.4 (Nov 2019)
5.10 (Dec 2020)
5.15 (Nov 2021)
6.1 (Dec 2022)
6.6 (Nov 2023)
6.12 (Nov 2024)
the next one will likely be in ~Dec 2025 will most likely be 6.18.
I actually pulled the dates not for x.x but for x.x.1 (as it was easier), so they might be a ~month later than the official x.x release. Usually x.x.1 shows up a few weeks after the official x.x.
This doesn’t really matter as it takes Android Common Kernel & Android OS about ~6-9 months to support latest LTS. For example 6.12 came out in Nov 2024, but isn’t supported before A16 which isn’t even out yet (likely out any week now though).
New versions of Android used to support the latest 5 LTS kernel versions, but Android 13/T extended this to 6. It’s understandable you can’t run a too old kernel, but apparently you also can’t run a too new one if you want certification (considering how old/ancient kernels are on devices, I doubt this is much of an issue…).
Pie allows/requires 3.~11/3.~18/4.4/4.9/4.14 kernels (first added optional support for eBPF).
A10/Q allows/requires 3.~18/4.4/4.9/4.14/4.19 kernels (eBPF optional).
A11/R allows/requires 4.4/4.9/4.14/4.19/5.4 kernels (eBPF optional).
A12/S allows/requires 4.9/4.14/4.19/5.4/5.10 kernels (eBPF required).
A13/T allows/requires 4.9/4.14/4.19/5.4/5.10/5.15 kernels.
A14/U allows/requires 4.14/4.19/5.4/5.10/5.15/6.1 kernels.
A15/V allows/requires 4.19/5.4/5.10/5.15/6.1/6.6 kernels.
A16/25Q2 allows/requires 5.4/5.10/5.15/6.1/6.6/6.12 kernels.
Pretty easy to guess A17/26Q2 will bump this up 1 year again and thus require 5.10/5.15/6.1/6.6/6.12/6.~18 kernels.
Though it sounds like the 5.10+ requirement might already be there in 25Q4 or even 25Q3.
Since FP3 runs 4.9 it cannot upgrade to A14 without a major kernel uprev (which AFAIK failed).
Since FP4 runs 4.19 it cannot upgrade to A16 without a major kernel uprev (which is unlikely to happen)
Since FP5 runs 5.4 it won’t be able to upgrade to A17 without a major kernel uprev (but I think QC might do this as part of their IoT soc support commitments).
Thus FP3/4/5 top out at A13/A15/A16, with the FP5 possibly getting A17+ after a kernel uprev provided by QC. How much of an uprev this is likely affects how many further releases it can support. Ie. if they uprev from 5.4->5.10->5.15 that buys 2 more years/releases, and thus tops out at A18 (which is enough to get A13->A18 and meet Fairphone’s 5 Android OS version upgrade commitment).
Of course, this is all assuming that things don’t change. However upstream LTS (which AFAICT is to a significant extent indirectly funded by Google/Android) has significantly cut support timeframes (though they sometimes do extend them later… see The Linux Kernel Archives - Releases ), and Google’s Android Common Kernel appears to be following… Hard to predict if this won’t mean kernel uprevs won’t be outright required every 2-3 years in the future… This might in turn reduce the number of LTS versions supported by newer Android versions (it might drop back down to 5 or even 4…). But this is utter guesswork.
What is clear is that the pixel 6/7+ families launched with 5.10 and received a major kernel uprev, and are now on 6.1. This begs the question how much longer will G want to support <6.1 kernels?
The above linked [ Android common kernels | Android Open Source Project ] page that no longer mention <5.4 kernels is simply scrubbed of all EOL LTS kernels - just like kernel . org and the above linked releases page no longer mention anything <5.4. So I wouldn’t read too much into it.
Such EOL LTS kernels no longer get any security updates from LTS nor Google (Android Common Kernel), and thus probably can’t be claimed to meet recent Android security bulletins. However, I don’t think that actually prevents upgrading to a newer OS and claiming an older ASB…
I certainly agree. But if I need that device, I have no choice but to consider the smartphone it was developed on. (iPhone)
Most Android/Google devices work fine with Whoop. And even FP4 with Android 12 never gave any problems.
No company ever wanted to care about it properly.