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Device hoarding is costing the economy. (lemmy.world)
submitted 9 months ago by [M] to c/latestagecapitalism@lemmy.world
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[–] 4 points 9 months ago (14 children)

I had to buy a new phone for work. My current jailbroken one was rejecting the auth app I needed to logon suddenly after an update.

I tried using an older phone using a newer (lineage) OS, no root, but the App kept saying no. I was beginning to lose quite a few working hours on this, and my work said "no" when I asked them for a phone.

So I bought a Fairphone6. Unnecessarily. I'm certain it's a good phone, with great repairability, and I will probably switch to it at some point in the future if my current phone ever stops working.

But it exists to log me in to work. That's its sole purpose. I dread to think what I'll have to buy next if the logon app gets too old on this phone.

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  • [–] 6 points 9 months ago (7 children)

    Buying an old galaxy s7/s8/s9, oneplus 3/5 or something like that would have cost 90% less and saved a phone from the landfill. Or one with a cracked (but working) screen for 95% less. If all you need is the login process, an old phone with stock firmware would have been good enough.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago* (6 children)

    I have two of those old phones, I flashed the stock but the Android was too low, I flashed the lineage with Android 13, re-locked the bootloader, and the App still fucking said no. Once you've opened the bootloader even once, a flag is set in the gsettings.

    At that point I wasn't even sure if my boss was going to let me keep this job, so I just went out and bought a new phone that I knew would be delivered the very next day

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  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago (3 children)

    Well, then a S20 or something, still around 100 bucks/pounds/euro and new enough. Not 90% but 75%,still a good deal.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago* (2 children)

    Fairphone seemed like a good longterm purchase. Im tired of collecting phones from family members and ex's and repurposing them ala lineage or postmarket.

    Nokia N900 was the last phone I truly felt anything for. Fairphone seems to have a modular design that might accomodate a similar experience in the future

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  • [–] 6 points 9 months ago

    Same thing happened to me ounce. I downloaded older version of the app and was able to keep using it.

    Also, I've checked recently and in my country the employer can't legally force you to buy devices you need for work. If job requires a device they have to provide it. So it's worth checking the regulation.

    Currently I'm forced to use MS Authenticator app but it works fine with Graphene OS.

    All that being said, I also have two phones because my car has Android Auto and I only recently was made available on Graphene. EU has a big issue with dependency on US tech but I think we're seeing some progress here. They should really focus on Android and force AOSP compatibility on everyone.

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  • [–] 5 points 9 months ago (3 children)

    Why in the hell are you buying a phone for your job? My company was trying to get us to download some app to make us all more "connected" and I told my boss that there was absolutely no reason for the company to "connect" with me unless I am on the production floor and then he can walk out of the air conditioned office and talk to me directly. Your work should not be on your personal devices.

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  • [–] 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    Yep. I asked, they said "no", and something along the lines of "if we make an exception for you then blah blah blah". I need the job, I swallowed it.

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  • [–] 5 points 9 months ago

    My company recently took away text-message as a way to 2FA and wanted us to download their app. I told them (politely) that I had an authorization app already that I trusted because it was Open Source (Bitwarden) and could I use that instead of installing a corporate app on my device.

    They said no.

    Never install your work's corporate spyware on your own personal device. Rule #1. If they want me to install their shit, they can provide the phone for me to do it.

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