Dutch electronics manufacturer Fairphone launched its second sustainable smartphone, the Fairphone 2, in 2015. At the time, the company promised three to five years of software support for the device. But it has far exceeded expectations, delivering five OS upgrades and seven years of security updates for the phone. Sadly, it's the end of the road for the Fairphone 2, as the company has finally announced that it will end software support for the device in March this year.

In a recent blog post, the company said it would deliver one final update to the Fairphone 2 in March 2023. After the release, the device will no longer receive security and feature updates. However, the company will still offer some spare parts to help users hold onto their phones for a few more months. Fairphone urges users not to access sensitive data on the device after May 2023, as it will lack the latest security updates, and Fairphone won't be able to fix critical vulnerabilities. "Some security-critical apps - like banking apps - will, over time, view the device as out of date and stop running entirely. This is likely to be a few years away, but it is app dependent, so hard to know when it could happen," the company added.

Talking about the availability of spare parts, Fairphone said that it has a limited supply of some parts in its online store, including display modules, that will be available till stocks last. However, some spare parts, like the bottom module, are no longer available to purchase and are only available for devices still under warranty.

If your Fairphone 2 is in good shape and you'd like to continue using it after March 2023, you can try installing a custom ROM like LineageOS on your device. You can download nightly builds of LineageOS 18.1 based on Android 11 from the LineageOS wiki for the device. Alternatively, you can send the device back to Fairphone's Reuse and Recycle Program, and the company will give you a €50 voucher for the Fairphone webshop. If you're going to opt for the latter, make sure to register your device with the program before 31 March 2023.

Source: Fairphone