The Android phone maker says go ahead, fix your own phone.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/[email protected]/t/758009

The Android phone maker says go ahead, fix your own phone.

The right-to-repair movement continues to gain steam as another big tech company shows its support for letting people fix their own broken devices.

Google endorsed an Oregon right-to-repair legislation Thursday calling it a “common sense repair bill” and saying it would be a “win for consumers.” This marks the first time the Android phone maker has officially backed any right-to-repair law.

The ability to repair a phone, for example, empowers people by saving money on devices while creating less waste,” said Steven Nickel, devices and services director of operations for Google, in a blog post Thursday. “It also critically supports sustainability in manufacturing. Repair must be easy enough for anyone to do, whether they are technicians or do-it-yourselfers.”

In the Oregon repair bill, manufacturers will be required to provide replacement parts, software, physical tools, documentation and schematics needed for repair to authorized repair providers or individuals. The legislation covers any digital electronics with a computer chip although cars, farm equipment, medical devices, solar power systems, and any heavy or industrial equipment that is not sold to consumers are exempt from the bill.

Google has made strides in making its Pixel phones easier to fix. The company enabled a Repair Mode for the phones last month allowing the protection of data on the device while it’s being serviced. There’s also a diagnostic feature that helps determine if your Pixel phone is working properly or not. That said, Google’s Pixel Watch is another story as the company said in October it will not provide parts to repair its smartwatch.

Apple jumped on the right-to-repair bandwagon back in October. The iPhone maker showed its support for a federal law to make it easier to repair its phones after years of being a staunch opponent.

  • smotherlove@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    152·
    10 months ago

    I don’t believe them and neither should you. They are looking for an easy PR win and you’re handing it to them. Title should be “Google makes the dubious claim that it will support right to repair”

    • bitwolf@lemmy.oneEnglish
      2·
      10 months ago

      Disagree. Google has constantly been working behind the scenes to bring the Android kernel to mainline so that phones can get updated longer.

      They designed the vendor module system and GSIs to cater to Qualcomm and the like which were the lowest common denominator.

      The Chromebooks while locked down have been modder friendly as well.

      It’s hit or miss depending on the dept but Google as whole has always seemed to prefer openness which is a part of RtR.

      • Pantherina@feddit.deEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        True. Google Pixels have support for all security features even on Custom ROMs. You can simply unlock the Bootloader. That is the reason GrapheneOS can only use Pixels.

        Chromebooks, idk. Its more the Android thing, take something open and neat like Coreboot, but embed a lot of proprietary things in it so its actually not that open anymore. They are possible to coreboot, yes, but the hardware is not open at all afaik.

        But I dont know how many Chromebooks still have replaceable storage

    • danhakimi@kbin.social
      1·
      10 months ago

      they will back a super narrow conception of “right to repair” that only hurts their competitors, but doesn’t inconvenience Google at all.

  • Possibly linux@lemmy.zipEnglish
    102·
    10 months ago

    It dumb to force manufacturers to provide parts. What we need is a simple way for third party companies to create and sell replacement parts.

    • snooggums@kbin.social
      111·
      10 months ago

      We need both for regular products just like we have for vehicles. The first ensures they exist, the latter keeps them reasonably priced.

      • atrielienz@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        10 months ago

        Part of the reason we don’t have this, (even for vehicles) is because trade secrets in engineering are so well kept. You may be able to find a plethora of parts that will absolutely work for your vehicle. But they will absolutely not be manufactured to the same exact spec as the one from the OEM manufacturer. Because those manufacturers are not sharing their engineering specs. So anything you can buy third party is reverse engineered and your mileage quite literally may vary. Sometimes parts are better. Sometimes they’re worse.

        But I agree with you that right to repair should create a free and open marketplace for non-oem parts manufacturers and sales.

      • Possibly linux@lemmy.zipEnglish
        13·
        10 months ago

        I don’t think your wrong but I just think trying to force manufacturers to make parts is a bit silly. Just make the device free of anti repair silliness and then anyone can repair it.