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Recent news concerning Google’s Nexus line of smartphones and tablets is not too good for owners. As Ars Technica’s Andrew Cunningham reports, “The Nexus 5 and 2013 Nexus 7 won't receive the Android 7.0 Nougat update from Google today.” (http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/08/android-nougat-drops-support-for-nexus-5-and-2013-nexus-7/). We are talking about devices that, in some cases, have been released less than three years back. Unfortunately, not supporting electronic devices for a long period of time has become the norm. Apple’s line has better support than most, but even for iPhones there comes a cut-off point from which the operating system cannot be upgraded. It is even worse for many models of Android devices, specially when considering lower-priced items. In some cases, no operating system upgrades have been made available at all to device owners. This has personally happened to me twice.
Des nouvelles récentes sur la gamme de smartphones et tablettes Nexus de Google ne sont pas bonnes pour les propriétaires.
Running the latest and greatest version of an operating system may not be a priority for many users. However, keeping (relatively) safe from hacking and malware does mean upgrading the applications - and app developers tend to have limited resources. It would be unreasonable to ask them to make sure their applications run on ten or twenty past versions of each operating system; limiting support for earlier versions runs, at best, to two or three versions back. So upgrading an operating system is, in fact, a crucial part of the modern user’s strategy to avoid digital mishaps.
The prospect of having to retire a smart device within a two-to-three year time period does not strike me as smart at all. In fact, it makes no economic sense for the user. The device’s battery may well require more frequent charging, but replying to a voice call or watching kitten videos on Youtube should be well within the capabilities of a three-year-old device. On the bright side of things, Google’s Nexus line of devices were known for their unlocked bootloaders. This is the bit of software that plays about the same part as the BIOS on a computer. Specifically, it allows the device to be booted in a special mode, from which another version of the operating system can be installed, a process known as flashing the device. This can be done without needing the approval of the previous system or the help of its update application.
Having an open bootloader is quite a big deal. An alternative version of the device’s operating system can be installed, if available. So can Ubuntu Touch, if the device is on the list of supported hardware (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Touch/Devices). And, as we all know, Ubuntu has a good record of providing support for each version, and of carrying on support for specific hardware from one version to the next.
In any case, I had bought a 2013 Nexus 7 tablet mainly to test out Ubuntu Touch. It has worked flawlessly for me, both under Android 5 and 6, and under Ubuntu. Going forward, I will be able to continue enjoying it and using it with an up-to-date Internet browser beyond the famous three-year limit – but only under Ubuntu. That’s fine with me, and more so as it saves me from the cost of having to replace a perfectly functional device.
When, eventually, I need to replace one of my smart devices, I will insist on having an open bootloader on the new one. Being locked into one company’s plans for device turnover is something I will no longer stand for.