To upgrade or not to upgrade - is that the question?

So, you've upgraded your smartphone to give you the latest and greatest advancements in technology that you think or know that you need. I have to admit there are a lot of fantastic features in the latest generation smartphones that make a significant difference in people's lives from live captioning to AI driven audio description amongst other features. I like these technologies and like to be at the forefront of the latest developments but am always torn when it comes to considering an upgrade.

It's a sad reality that a lot of smartphones become unsupported often within 2 years of purchase. Want to continue using your favourite app? Sure thing - just upgrade your phone's operating system. You can't upgrade? Well you must need a new phone then.

Unfortunately the majority of manufacturers are locked into a short window of how long they will support software upgrades and ultimately how long you can use your smartphone for. According to MobileMuster, in Australia there are over 26 million unused smartphones being stored in households around the country. That's one smartphone for every Australian that remains unused and shovelled away in some cupboard. Admittedly they state that 4 million of these smartphones are unusable but they could at least be recycled and make a difference to the planet as a whole.

I am one of the guilty parties: I have a collection of smartphones that are outdated (but still working) that I've kept for a rainy day. Yes, in preparation for that day when my children come to me saying their smartphone, which is so integrated with their lives, has stopped working. Sure the smartphones I have are not the latest and greatest and maybe several apps don't work but at the end of the day they are phones.

However it does get me thinking: how should we all be considering our upgrade path when it comes to smartphones? I already recycle any laptop in my house: casing point the laptop I am writing this on is well past its use-by date according to it's (fruit) manufacturer but install the right alternate open source operating system and the hardware is as good as new. (if you're curious Ubuntu Studio is my current distro of choice because of its multimedia capabilities) I do the majority of my work via a browser so as long at that browser is up to date, supported and secure what does it matter what hardware I use?

However I digress. When it comes to smartphones what can you do? What can we all do? Here's a couple of points of how I approach the never-ending question: to upgrade or not to upgrade?

Step 1: check out different manufacturers and their length of support. The latest smartphone I purchased has a warranty of 5 years and supported software upgrades for that length of time. (Thank you Fairphone). What's more the smartphone I purchased (we now have two in our household) is as powerful as some of the flagship smartphones on the market and is one of the easiest to fix yourself.

Step 2: can't upgrade the software but the hardware is still functional? Like with a laptop (Linux anyone?) why not consider an alternate open source operating system? I frequently try out LineageOS as a custom OS on unused smartphones to get them running a more supported version of Android. Yes it is a little geeky and technical to get installed but there are several online community forums with helpful FAQs. Failing that reach out to your local volunteer run Repair Cafe for their advice. I volunteer at my local Repair Cafe and often field questions regarding this. Unfortunately this option isn't viable with a smartphone that originated from an orchard.

Step 3: consider factory resetting your outdated smartphone and donating to a local charity that can either recycle your old phone or repurpose it. If you're in Australia and not heard of MobileMuster I'd strongly encourage you to investigate them. After all if your smartphone is at least still capable of making calls someone could benefit from it.

It's this last point that made me consider whose rainy day I need all these outdated smartphones for? By chance I heard of MobileMuster's social cause drive in December which made me think differently. In partnership with the DV Safe Phone and the Reconnect Project donated smartphones are being put to good use. Their program gets these unused smartphones to people in need: follow the links to learn more.

I think someone else's rainy day is in far greater need that mine.

So, as we dive into this New Year have a think about what you're doing with your old, unused smartphones. Is an upgrade really needed? What can you consider to get a longer life out of your next purchase? How can you squeeze more life out of your smartphone before it realistically needs to be deemed "out of date"? And finally what good can you do by considering how your unused smartphone could be repurposed, reused and ultimately make a difference to someone else?