Au Revoir, Android (On How Uncool Android Has Become)

‎Having an Android handset has never been a disappointment like this. As more and more people have Android phones on earth, one thing you must know is that you should be ready if your handset turns obsoletely unupgradable within 1-2 years of use. Yes, it costs us cheap as hell but if you don’t want to have a pricey smartphone that will end up too soon in a landfill, or even worse, left unused in the drawer though actually still it can function, you’d better find any other alternatives. Such as Apple’s iPhone. Ahem…

I know BlackBerry sucks when it comes to apps, ecosystem, and so on, but admit it, even if you think it sucks a lot, the security is much better. That’s why Obama doesn’t use Android or iPhone. Because the security of BlackBerry is better! How come? Thanks to the much fewer apps it provides on BlackBerry World! A security expert says the more apps a platform has, the higher the security risk means. Within an app, comes also a bunch of security flaws that are maybe exploited by hackers.

Android is way too unsecure for sure. Look at the uncurated, unfiltered Google Play, which is filled with fake applications for anyone to download. As Nathaniel Mott of Pando Daily puts it some days ago, “Android can sometimes seem like a no-win product for Google, especially where security is concerned.” And I can hardly believe how ignorant Google is to the cyber safety of older Android handsets owners. They pretty much don’t care.

Mott says again:

“The company can either assert more control over the platform and risk the alienation of its manufacturing partners, or it can leave things alone and receive criticism when security vulnerabilities aren’t fixed in a timely manner — if they’re ever fixed at all. This problem is highlighted by Google’sinability to fix several security vulnerabilities in the WebView component included with versions of the platform before the release of Android 4.4 “KitKat” in October 2013. As the company’s engineers told the developer of the Metasploit Project after he emailed them about the newly-discovered vulnerabilities: If the affected version [of WebView] is before 4.4, we generally do not develop the patches ourselves, but welcome patches with the report for consideration. Other than notifying OEMs, we will not be able to take action on any report that is affecting versions before 4.4 that are not accompanied with a patch. It’s not that Google doesn’t want to fix the vulnerability — it’s that Android was designed in such a way that it can’t fix the problem itself. Manufacturers have to develop their own fixes, or decide to send Google’s updates to their devices because they’re responsible for the software installed on their smartphones. (Carriers also have some input.) The only problem? Manufacturers often stop sending updates to older devices after a certain period of time because they’re focused on newer products. That has hurt consumers in the past, like when Google revealed thatpeople using older Android devices will remain vulnerable to the infamous Heartbleed bug until manufacturers release a fix. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that many manufacturers never update older devices to more recent versions of Android. After all, if they can’t be bothered to release security updates, why go through the trouble of working on a much larger Android update? So even though Google is working on this issue, it will be years before consumers benefit. Google is trying to do the right thing, but it made a mistake when it sacrificed control over Android for the sake of market share. Now its customers are paying the price, and because its name is attached to Android despite its lack of say over how manufacturers use the platform, it could face backlash for the perception of it not caring about consumers.‎” (Nathaniel Mott)

I ditched my Samsung Galaxy Nexus 2 months ago. Not that it defuncted or started to fall apart, but I just develop a new interest in iPhone. The Nexus 2 and iPhone 4S don’t differ much but one thing I notice is the fact that you are less likely to find a malware, or crapware on App Store. And I have a BlackBerry for a blogging and writing purpose (this is the thing I am writing this very blog post on). So I don’t quite care about the apps on my BlackBerry Q5. As long as it can work well to blog and draft my news articles on the go, why should I download crappy apps?