Besides the (as) fair (as possible) raw materials and labour conditions one of the arguments for the Fairphone was it’s reparability and therefore longevity.
Right now, i’ve got two problems:
My display broke and that spare part is “out of stock” since October. Just 18 months after i bought my FP.
Well, and then there’s the software. My phone is still operating on Android 4.2.2 and no i don’t want to mess around with the phone i use every day. I want it to run stable on an more or less up-to-date os (= one main version above the latest available -> Lollipop would be fine, for Marshmallow is already available) without having to hack my way through the update/upgrade process. Sooner or later some apps won’t work with my phone anymore and THAT would be a real bummer.
So, i just don’t see that longevity for the FP at the moment. And no, i won’t buy the FP2, because that would be the opposite of what i understand as the “fairphone idea”.
Yes, @Eike, you are right and most of us agree with you. Even people at Fairphone see this point. Unfortunately this is caused by choices (especially the Chipset) made in an early stage by a team inexperienced as a phone manufacturer. At this point there is little they can do about it.
It seems as if Fairphone has at least learned something from the first edition phone and tried to avoid those pitfalls with the second phone.
I just ran into this topic and I want to motivate the people, who (think they) need a higher android version, to try chrmhoffmanns ROM (Android 4.4.4 version 0.9.3). I just updated a few days ago my FP1 and it works in my opinion better then the Stock ROM.
I think everyone who wants to have the update should try it and use the tutorials out of this community. It is an effort to do this but with help out of the community it is no problem. It may take you one weekend, but most of the time you are just setting your phone up with your favourite apps an settings.
I did it and therefore, everyone can do it!
If you are still thinking that how it works and how you get it is none of your busyness - then you are wrong. We all have something in common, that we do care about all the things happening behind a product. If you are not able to take your time to read through the topic then you are not worth the new version, sorry hon.
When you do read through it, then you will see it is not really complicated and you will find help here if you need it!
I don’t know where to ask this question so… (and it’s not that I don’t trust you guys… quite the contrary, I find incredible all that work; I will most probably upgrade to this after my next hard reset):
Is there any chance that there will be a official fairphone FP1 ROM update?
I do think that the Fairphone team will look into an official upgrade to Kitkat, but first they will try to solve the most urgent issues with the FP2 software.
Do you have any idea, Stefan, if there’s a chance of there being a 5.0/6.0 update at some point as well? Or is the source code they acquired not enough for that?
Mediatek only has source code for up to version 4.4 for this SoC. Given how hard it seems to be to work with the Mediatek source, I don’t believe anyone will port any of the devices using this SoC to a higher version than 4.4 unless Mediatek does it themselves (which I don’t think will ever happen). It seems definitely out of scope for a small company like Fairphone.
So, unfortunately, the answer is: No, I don’t have any hope for Lollipop or even Marshmallow releases for Fairphone 1.
I am afraid @jftr is right: I see a 0% chance for official Android 5.0 on the FP1. Maybe a community for like @chrmhoffmann’s Android 4.4.4. But even for that, I see little chance. Compared to 4.4, which actually brings a lot of new functionality (like Bluetooth 4.0/BLE), there is little but cosmetic changes in 5.0. But, I do not think it is that important yet. Currently, with Android 4.2, 3/4 of Android devices have a newer version. However, if I as a developer would decide to only support Android 4.3 and higher, I would still lose roughly 25% of market potential in Android world. That is hardly acceptable for most must-have apps, which almost universally even support Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for that reason.
Assuming we will get 4.4 officially, we would be on par or before 2/3 of all Android phones, so no serious app developer can currently accept to lose more then half of all Android devices. Looking at the slow pace of Android Updates, with 4.4 the FP1 will be good for some years.
What is the message to the future, is we are accepting this obsolesce??
Not even 2 years after buying a fairphone, we need to care not to buy a new bluetooth!!
What specifically are you referring to? Using the “quote” functionality and using the “reply” button directly at a post helps to infer what you reply to.
You’re right. But no one intended to send this message. Please keep in mind that this whole project was very ambitious and in the end nobody could foresee this situation. At least Fairphone has fixed some of the most important security vulnerabilities pretty quickly. That is definitely not the standard among other smartphone companies.
My point was about the fact that if Fairphone community is not able to update software, who will be??
Unless we do something “official” the message will be “sooner than later, fairphone 1 tried but the market was stronger”.
which is a really bad message to the future.
In my case, I really believe the story of starting a movement which means to attack the Planned obsolescence, at least for our mobile…
Well, if the “market” is 3 billion devices (no idea how many smartphone there are really out there), and Fairphone sold 60.000 phones, then at least objectively the “market” is stronger…
Fairphone is trying there best. Until there are other news, I recommend you read the following blog post:
Hi - this is my first forum contribution - simply for despair. I was happy and proud to be an FP1 owner - with all green - fair - and sustainable. However, with the Android stuck with 4.2.2 I cannot use it with my second SIM card for working with company Outlook email, addresses, calender. Is the message that I can throw it away and buy a new FP2 now? How sustainable is that?..
And even with FP2 - will this be outdated after 2 years as well? I do not want to buy a new device every 2-3 years. Then I can go to the likes of Samsung and Apple.
Wish you good luck and SUCCESS in your negotiations to get an upgrade realized on at least 4.4
Hey Charlie - do you actually know and understand how an electric drill works and can you upgrade it with new gear wheels? Point I want to make: I am a USER of the FP1 and dont want to work myself into becomming a programmer. - Guess, that’s why Apple exists
[quote=“MichaelFP1, post:61, topic:7032”]
I am a USER of the FP1 and dont want to work myself into becomming a programmer. - Guess, that’s why Apple exists[/quote]
There is only this unofficial port (using unofficial sources) for 4.4.4 here in the forum right now. That’s all we FP1 users have.
I guess there will be an official 4.4.4 some day in the future. I heard about this a few times and it sounded like “soon”.
You don’t need to be a programmer to upgrade the phone. You “only” need to find a way to talk to your phone using your computer.
I know this all sounds like stockholm syndrome but that’s all there is right now.
Just remember that apple employs a few more people for mostly everything and they do everything “themselves”. FP just sells OEM phones, with a few people and just with standard soft- and hardware, but partly made from “better” sources. That’s their selling point.
The only thing that works right now will be waiting, trying it yourself or buying just another phone. I don’t think you have to wait much longer but maybe that just me.
quite the contrary, I find incredible all that work; I will most probably upgrade to this after my next hard reset):
