A week with unsupported Android device

After losing my Android device during a bike ride, I needed to have my SIM card back and have a running cell phone, so that people can reach me. I didn’t have time to wait for a smartphone to be delivered in 3 days, so I found a smartphone in my used devices box. It was a Samsung Galaxy Ace from 2011 with Android 2.3.6.

Most of the software that was preinstalled on the device is unusable because either the company/developer stopped supporting the software (Google News), or it requires higher security ciphers and fails (Maps, Play Store).

Software such as Calendar, Contacts, Clock, Memo, and Messages work as expected.

Beyond the pre-installed software problems, installing new applications proved equally challenging. I have had tried installing Firefox, WhatsApp, or Signal. Of course, I found APKs from archive websites, but I had no chance to run any of them.

For instance, WhatsApp: The software that makes life easier. Without it, people started to call me directly. No one considered sending a simple SMS instead of expecting me to download WhatsApp or other messaging platforms. This dependency on modern apps affects not just WhatsApp, but also Signal, Tor, and virtually any contemporary tool.

I need to emphasize that we are living in a modern internet age. We are connected through devices together and we perform complex tasks such as informing our loved ones that we are safe and healthy. This is impossible to do with security-flawed cipher suites. Also, as the device is becoming older and older, it can not compute timely manner, which would result bad user experience on video streaming platforms. Worse yet, the device and its operating system are riddled with security flaws that make them vulnerable to attacks.

Looking toward the future of the web, we should remember that openness was key to the success of the early 2000s internet. This was lost with the smartphone era. To not repeat this again, we should try to use open technologies and protocols. However, security is not easy to achieve with open-only technology.