# Why is your Phone killing the planet? Introducing the Observatory of Mobile Software Obsolescence

Lucas Deloison, Gaëlle Fret, Édouard Guégain, Adrien Luxey

► To cite this version:

Lucas Deloison, Gaëlle Fret, Édouard Guégain, Adrien Luxey. Why is your Phone killing the planet? Introducing the Observatory of Mobile Software Obsolescence. ICT4S, Jun 2025, Dublin (IR), Ireland. hal-05118524

HAL Id: hal-05118524

https://hal.science/hal-05118524v1

Submitted on 18 Jun 2025

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# Why is your Phone killing the planet?
## Introducing the Observatory of Mobile Software Obsolescence

Lucas Deloison<fnref n="1" />, Gaëlle Fret<fnref n="1" />, Edouard Guégain<fnref n="2" />, Adrien Luxey<fnref n="1" />

## The issues

* Mineral supply crisis (e.g. DRC war on Cobalt)

* Climate crisis (smartphone's embodied energy)

* Economic crisis (smartphone's average cost: 356$)

Smartphones' poor longevity aggravates these crises

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CC BY-SA 4.0 by Calistemon

## Obsolescence paths from ICT4S 2023

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© by L. Mosesso - ICT4S 2023

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To do

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Done

* Smartphone's lifespan: **32 months**

* **Obsolescence types:** psychological, **software**, material...

* Software is the cause of at least **42% of smartphone issues** encountered by users

Now tackling software obsolescence

## RQ: How does apps evolution impact smartphones' lifespan?

Exploring how software design decisions affect usability on older devices through a long-term, longitudinal, empirical study.

### From Android version to device lifespan on Google Play Store

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Here, we consider phones to be "broken" once they no longer receive security updates.

* **Games** are the most backward-compatible (75% compatible up to 2018)

* **Travel** apps are the worst

* 75% apps require a phone younger than 7 years

### From Android version to app longevity on F-Droid Store

<figure><img src="image_8.png" /></figure>

* Open-source app development is thriving!

* Is app longevity plateauing?

* Few apps last more than 10 years

## Conclusion

* We want better ecodesign legislation

* We want to code lasting apps

* We want to keep our beloved phone

## Your turn!

* Quantify software obsolescence: which metrics? For what info?

* What software dev. decisions cause loss of compatibility?

* Quick wins to increase smartphones' lifespan?

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## Future works

* Support other app stores (F-Droid, AppleStore)

* Make the Observatory publicly accessible

* Interview developer teams

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<footnote n="1">¹ Inria, Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9189 CRIS</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Greenspector, eguegain@greenspector.com</footnote>