With the advancement of technology, our mobiles remain operational longer (courtesy of the batteries, which we can take care of better), and it is normal that we do not feel the need to change terminals every two or three years. However, continue to use them carries certain risks.
We already know what the security patches are, as well as what the essential updates are. However, when a terminal is left without support For the manufacturer, we must be satisfied with the latest version that our mobile has received. So let’s see what we should do with a mobile that does not receive updates.
If your mobile does not update, you run certain risks
The fact that a mobile is out of support does not make it useless. But it is more likely to get infected with malware or viruses. The main culprit is security patchthat Google updates to cover possible malicious code entry holes that can alter your device and even invade your privacy.
Our mobile is not defenseless, no, but there may be a vulnerability that has been corrected by means of a patch. In this case, we would be totally exposed if we continue to use a non-updated mobile. The situation becomes more serious if the model stopped getting help a long time ago
Be careful here with the use of phones with very old versions of Androidlike Android 8 or Android 9, which together are present in more than 20% of all Android mobiles.
Also, although it’s not very normal, some apps stop working on older versions of Google’s operating system when they’re updated. You will have noticed it from the first changes as soon as you receive the notice. So it’s one more problem that we can have if we are obsolete.
Be extremely careful when using without security patches
The most important thing to continue using your Android without support is take extreme precautions. If in itself, installing applications from unknown sources involves a risk, which we sometimes want to run, doing it on a non-updated mobile maximizes this problem.
In these out-of-support phones, it is totally recommended limit app installation to Google Play Storewhich has greater reliability and integrates some services such as Google Play Protect, which protects us from malicious applications.
In addition to being more careful when installing apps, we also need to be more careful when browsing the web. Be careful with automatically downloaded files
Check the source of the file beforehand, whether it is an application or not, but the idea is to stick to the official methods. Another tactic is to not use applications containing sensitive information in our old mobiles, for example those of the bank. These contain our personal data and other equally (or more) important data, such as the credit card in the case of banking applications.
Solutions to continue using it… or give it a new life
Even if your mobile has no more official updates, there are still some ways to work around this problem. The most direct thing we can do is install a custom ROM, a method to Advanced users but that does not have much difficulty once one has studied the process.
We could talk about the thousand and one advantages that Android ROMs provide, but, without a doubt, the biggest is their ability to keep phones up to date which are outside the official support of the manufacturer. In this way, we would avoid serious security problems, since these firmware they keep the security patch updated at the latest.
A second attempt would pass update mobile via google play store. Google, aware of the laziness of manufacturers when it comes to updating, has separated certain parts of the system and updates them from its official store. They usually focus on fixes and fixes, but sometimes they can give us a bit more security.
Before buying a new mobile, make sure that the manufacturer promises (and fulfills) several years of updates. If possible, at least three.
As a last option, we can’t stop considering a change of mobile. And that wouldn’t mean throwing it away, but reusing it to give it a new mission. We have countless ideas for it, like using it as an e-book, a Google Home speaker or display, a webcam replacement, or just a music player.
Only the dilemma of which mobile to choose would remain, but we advise you to put special emphasis on a manufacturer that constantly updates its models and during the longer period possible. Updates, or rather lack thereof, harm our phones. They don’t become useless, but they are more precarious and we can get infected more easily.