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Can I get a phone that will never update?

C

Craig Miller

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I have S7 active. I need a rugged dependable phone and this one was great, but with each update it has been worse and worse. First the extra home screen before you get to the unlock screen (about a year ago). Added a extra swipe every time I used my phone. Then another update that added some kind of multi screen stuff. When I leave Youtube it now plays in a little window instead of just pausing and waiting for me to go back to it. Obviously lots of other changes I may not have noticed.

With each update my phone gets a little slower and the battery life gets worse. For the last few months when I use google maps and Pandora the phone gets so hot it gives me warnings (just sits in the center consule of my car). Now my battery life has gone from about 2-3 days to less then 1 day. Then Yesterday I received another update. When my phone rings it half loads the call screen and hangs for 4-5 seconds while I cannot here the person on the other end. Google maps takes 10-15 seconds to load, then another 10 seconds or so for the keyboard to come up after I tap the search box.

I have no interest in trying to fix or find a work around with each new problem (feature) a particular update brings. I just want it to work the way it did when I bought it, after all the way it worked was the reason I picked and paid for it.

I am of the understanding (correct me if I am wrong as I am very ignorant to phones) that I cannot go back to the older versions of Android since this is a locked ATT phone.

*Question

Can I purchase a phone that I can turn off all abilities to update in the future? I have no ties to any carrier or brand and am willing to pay directly for the phone.




I asked the guys at Fry's electronics and Best Buy and both looked at me like I was nuts. I expect most people want the opposite of me.
 
I'm guessing that your best bet to purchase a phone that will see no to few upgrades would be to buy an older model. Your S7 and that vintage would be your best bet. Those phones will likely be near the end of their support and upgrades. Being as you already own a S7, I would suggest doing a factory refresh on your phone.
It will more than likely cure your woes. It will force you to reload all of your play store apps and redo your preferences etc... just as painful as setting up a new phone.
 
I did factory rest on it last night. It did improve it some, but it still hands before the keyboard comes up and still has the features I don't want. I would love to have a s7 active with the operating system and features it was originally designed to handle (6.0?). Is there a way I can get a S7 active with the older operating system and keep it there?
Or a newer phone with better hardware that was designed to work with 8.0, but keep it at 8.0. That way when 10.0 comes out and phones start flying, my hardware is not going to be overwhelmed trying to control the wings it was not originally designed to do (lol).

Can I make it work like windows? select what updates I want or don't want, security patches etc. I have a 15 year old laptop next to me bed running Vista lol. It is only there to watch Netflix. I just want it to do what I bought it to do. If I updated it over and over it would have no chance of functioning. My Plex server is on a windows 7 pro machine, and as long as I don't update to windows 10 or later I expect I will still have it in another 10 years.

Mabye I am not, but I have a hard time believing that I am the only one asking this question. The guys at work call updates "forced outdating". Google searching any update nets post after post of how to get rid of XXX.XXX update. I wish I could buy a phone with X features, use it for 3 years and enjoy it. Then go get the new hottness with XX features, spend a bunch of time learning it, and enjoy it for 3 years.

I really appreciate your responses and your time
 
Unless you have the misfortune to buy your phone through a US carrier you can just not download or install updates. On any recent Android version you should be able to suppress notifications of them. But many US carriers modify the software so that you cannot refuse updates indefinitely, so if you rely on their subsidies you may be stuck.

It should be possible to roll a Samsung back, but I'm not a Samsung expert. That probably won't stop you getting future updates.

Carrier-branded phones often have to be on their home network in order to get updates. So using an unlocked carrier-branded phone with a different network's SIM might achieve what you want. Of course you still end up paying off the original contract.

Cheap Chinese imports typically get no updates, or support of any sort. Caveat emptor though: quality control may also be poor, and you should check carefully whether they even work with your carrier before buying (refunds may be impossible as well).

Picking and choosing updates isn't really possible because they are usually patches that are designed to be applied sequentially.

Rooting and installing a custom ROM will remove you from the update cycle, as you'll only get updates to the ROM if you download an install them yourself. Rooting alone does not do this (though it may break your ability to apply official updates. Personally I consider applying official OTA updates to a phone with modified software to be risky behaviour anyway).

I've not myself had the problems with updates that you describe, but I've never owned a carrier-branded Samsung phone. To my amazement the biggest update my Samsung tablet ever received actually removed some of the bloatware that Samsung had included in the original ROM! But my point here is that some of the problems you describe are not general consequences of updates but problems of manufacturers and carriers who like to add bloatware to the updates (either to promote their services or because they are paid to include the apps). So buying non-carrier handsets, especially from manufacturers who adopt a leaner policy to software, will reduce the risk (though I would never be rash enough to promise that any manufacturer won't release a bad update, or one that doesn't work so well with your setup).

Remember that updates include security patches, and can also include improvements in other things: it's common for camera performance to be improved by updates in the first several months after release, for example. So a "no updates" policy has downsides too.
 
Well, one way to do it is that get a phone from a different carrier, then insert an ATT sim into it. US phones are also configured to refuse to even see updates if the phone was originally from a different carrier and a different sim is inserted.
Another way is to get an iPhone if you're willing. I mean the iPhone interface has barely changed in 10 years, and it seems like that's the sort of thing you want.

My personal opinion is that as long as you live in the US, you'll have your issues with Android updates. A few of us here live outside, and have the outside looking in perspective on US phone issues, and to be honest, I honestly believe that all the crap US carriers put you through has detrimental effect on your Android experience.
 
My previous experiences with AT&T branded Samsung phones, I had the S5 Active, is as mentioned before, that as long as you use it on a different network, you will never get prompted for a update.
If you like the S7 Active, there are plenty of Unlocked new in the box available. I would think that even refurbished would ship with the original Android version it was released with.
Not sure if downgrade is possible but if it can be done, answer may be found here.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/s7-active
 
I was at work and the school called to tell me my son was sick. When I answered they could not here me (argh!). On my way out the door I tried to call my wife. Hit the power button get to new lock screen that was added last year, swipe right, and then I get a (news briefing screen) new screen (oh WTF!), swipe right again, brings the next screen that wants to tell me all about this new feature (OMFG!), tell it (no thanks), swipe my unlock code, and finally call my wife.

My s7 active is old and outdated (hardware) and I have no bias towards it aside from it being a "rugged phone". But I want this cycle to end. I get a new phone, spend a bunch of time learning and loving it, and then every few months I get more updates that slowly changes my phone untill I don't want it anymore.

So from what I am understanding from Hadron's post if I buy a UNLOCKED Ulefone Armor 2 or maybe a AGM X2 I can turn off the updates and the phone will stay the way it always was unless I choose to change it. I just want to make sure I understand this.

Again I cannot thank you guys enough. I have learned more from you all then every cell phone store employee I have talked to.
 
After my experience with the S5 Active, I vowed never to buy a carrier branded phone again. S5 was my last Samsung.
Currently using a Motorola G6. Bare bones Android with decent spec's for the price.
 
My understanding is that it's only US carrier-branded phones that are forced to accept updates. With other phones you will be notified when there is an update, but can choose not to apply them.

As for turning off that notification, I cannot absolutely guarantee that it's possible for a phone I've never used, but I can block pretty well any app from sending notifications on my (unrooted) phone. In fact if I look at Settings > Apps > All > Google Play Services > Notifications I see that that app has a tick box for notifying you about system updates, so I assume that disabling that would stop update notifications without even needing to block that app's notifications completely. Can't test now as will not have an update for another 2-3 weeks (Pixel 2, so do get them every month), but oherwise I'd try the usual "long press on the notification, wait until the gear icon appears then disable the notification" trick.
 
A big part of your problem is tied to some questionable, initial choices -- Samsung phones are deservedly reputed to include a lot of Samsung cruft and getting any AT&T carrier-locked phone will include carrier-imposed restrictions.
Get a carrier-unlocked phone (you'll pay more for an non-subsidized phone but it's also not restricted to a particular carrier) and give some thought into just dumping AT&T and switching to different, less-intrusive carrier. Yes that might not be a trivial matter since here in the U.S. market this often depends on where you reside -- if you live somewhere where AT&T dominates and other carriers just avoid, an option is to sign up with a MVNO contracted with AT&T, which often involves cheaper monthly payments and better customer service while still getting to use AT&T's cellular network.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_mobile_virtual_network_operators
Also, don't forget there's a difference between those monthly security updates (primarily focused on the base Android operating system) and annual OS version upgrades (affecting both the base OS and significant user interface changes, a very significant issue since both the manufacturers, like Samsung, and the carriers, like AT&T, often add/alter a lot of branding to suit their own purposes which as you've seen can often create odd stability and performance issues.)
 
FWIW Samsung can force non-rooted devices devices to update if they want, like if they think an update is very important. In fact they did this for Note7 to neuter battery charging.
 
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Craig Miller said:
I was at work and the school called to tell me my son was sick. When I answered they could not here me (argh!). On my way out the door I tried to call my wife. Hit the power button get to new lock screen that was added last year, swipe right, and then I get a (news briefing screen) new screen (oh WTF!), swipe right again, brings the next screen that wants to tell me all about this new feature (OMFG!), tell it (no thanks), swipe my unlock code, and finally call my wife.

My s7 active is old and outdated (hardware) and I have no bias towards it aside from it being a "rugged phone". But I want this cycle to end. I get a new phone, spend a bunch of time learning and loving it, and then every few months I get more updates that slowly changes my phone untill I don't want it anymore.

So from what I am understanding from Hadron's post if I buy a UNLOCKED Ulefone Armor 2 or maybe a AGM X2 I can turn off the updates and the phone will stay the way it always was unless I choose to change it. I just want to make sure I understand this.

Again I cannot thank you guys enough. I have learned more from you all then every cell phone store employee I have talked to.
Click to expand...
Some of the new features you mention, like the briefing screen and such can be turned off. And well, to be honest, I have never experienced the same troubles you have with an S7.
Anyway, the problem with buying unlocked in the US is that you have to make sure they work with your carrier, which is an issue when we talk about the cheaper phones.
You could also just stick with the S7 Active at this point since it's received the last OS update it will ever get (if you already have Oreo), and you'll get a rugged phone with no updates. Uploading a video here showing which parts of the interface that's giving you trouble may help us help you in understanding them and turning them possibly turning them off.
 
I just figured out how to turn the briefing thing off. The next time I tried to use the phone the lock screen says "Your music controller needs some music" (WTF?). I swipe the message away and open my phone. I just did a google search for that phrase and the first response was a reddit post about this after Oreo update. Google auto finished (google maps slow after oreo update). It also auto finished "phone lagging after oreo update".

Thank you so much Chanchan05, I was becoming very interested in Ulefone Armor 2, but it looks like it won't work on ATT network. That would have been big oops.
 
Craig Miller said:
I just figured out how to turn the briefing thing off. The next time I tried to use the phone the lock screen says "Your music controller needs some music" (WTF?). I swipe the message away and open my phone. I just did a google search for that phrase and the first response was a reddit post about this after Oreo update. Google auto finished (google maps slow after oreo update). It also auto finished "phone lagging after oreo update".

Thank you so much Chanchan05, I was becoming very interested in Ulefone Armor 2, but it looks like it won't work on ATT network. That would have been big oops.
Click to expand...

Oh, those messages. Yeah the new update brought them to help people with the new features. After you read them once they go away. If I remember correctly you should just swipe upwards on the lockscreen because swiping left and right on certain spots will trigger the face widgets for viewing the music player and calendar on the lockscreen. Or just use the fingerprint scanner.
 
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