Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- T-Mobile recently upgraded its security standards, retiring older methods in the process.
- Virtually all phones made before 2017 should be unaffected, but older devices might have problems with caller ID, sending larger multimedia messages, and more.
- The simplest solution is to upgrade, as older phones are already more vulnerable to security issues, and this is just another reason to move on.
T-Mobile recently upgraded parts of its network and, in the process, retired some of the old security standards used by some older Android and iOS-powered devices. The change impacts select older devices on both T-Mobile’s network and any prepaid provider that runs on it. The good news is that pretty much every device made after 2017 is unaffected, but if you’re still rocking something older, now is the time to move on.
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T-Mobile and its partners started issuing warnings weeks ago before making the change mid-last week, but not everyone seems to have gotten the message, as there are several messages on Reddit and other social platforms warning users of potential problems or asking why their phones aren’t working right anymore.
If your device is impacted, you should likely still be able to use it for voice calls and basic texts, but you may run into issues with call forwarding, call waiting, and caller ID. You’ll also have potential issues sending larger multimedia files. Data should more or less be unaffected here.
You can probably live with the issues here for a little while, but we’d recommend upgrading to a newer Android device sooner rather than later. Not only will these devices be on older versions of Android that are slowly but surely losing app support, but you’re also vulnerable to newer security risks that are no longer being patched.
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