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While the new apps and features may be off limits, you can assume that as long as your Android phone’s internet browser is there, you will at least have unrestricted internet access.
I’d be wrong: Starting in September 2021, a large chunk of secure web sites will be out of reach for older phones thanks to a change in the way websites are digitally signed.
As explained by the Android Police, it is all thanks to changes in Let’s Encrypt, a certificate authority used by around 30% of the domains on the web. For years, your own ISRG Root X1 root certificate has been cross-signed with IdenTrust’s DST Root X3, which is present on all major operating systems.
But this partnership with IdenTrust will expire on September 1, 2021, and Let’s Encrypt has expressed that it does not intend to renew the agreement. That means that any browser or operating system without the Let’s Encrypt root certificate will stop working when it finds the third of the web that requires it.
In short, you are out of luck if your phone runs Android 7.1 or lower.
“This introduces some compatibility issues,” the company writes. “Certain software that hasn’t been updated since 2016 (around when our root was accepted for many root programs) still doesn’t trust our certificate, ISRG Root X1. In particular, this includes versions of Android prior to 7.1.1 “.
This, according to Google’s own figures, means that barring a sudden spike in operating system updates between now and September, 33.8% of Android devices will start to generate errors when visiting sites with a Let’s Encrypt certificate.
“What can we do about it? Well, while we’d love to improve the Android upgrade situation, there’s not much we can do there,” the company writes. “We can’t afford to buy the world a new phone either.”
The company has some tips for site owners to limit damage from older devices through an alternative certificate chain, and recommends that those who can’t afford a new Android phone install Firefox Mobile, which is compatible with any device. from Android 5.0 onwards.
“Firefox is currently unique among browsers: it ships with its own list of trusted root certificates. Therefore, anyone who installs the latest version of Firefox will benefit from an up-to-date list of trusted certificate authorities, even if their operating system is not up to date, ”the company explains.
But this is ultimately a sticky cast. A phone needs to access websites through more than just the web browser, and as a result, you can end up with strange behavior.
Are you affected? Android 7.1.1 was released in December 2016, so all phones purchased after that are almost guaranteed to be safe, and even phones purchased in the previous year have likely had a software update. When in doubt, it’s worth checking which version of Android you’re running by looking in your system settings.
If you find that your phone does not support Android 7.1.1 or later, it is time to update. The good news is that this doesn’t have to be as expensive as you think, and budget phones have improved tremendously in recent years. Here’s our current list of the best cheap phones you can buy.
