The Fairphone 4 and Fairphone 5 are our latest models, with the Fairphone 5 launched in September 2023. These devices represent the next steps in our mission to pioneer more sustainable ways to make smartphones. We’ve also expanded our ecosystem with the Fairbuds and Fairbuds XL—our new, environmentally friendly earbuds.

We aim to support the Fairphone 4 and Fairphone 5, with security and software upgrades for at least five years from each product’s launch date. Providing long-term software support is ingrained in our culture!

Creating both software and hardware inevitably also comes with challenges in both areas. New issues come to our attention every day through multiple channels, and maintaining the software for your Fairphone, Fairbuds, or Fairbuds XL is a big part of our sustainability journey!

Stick around to learn more about how we fix software issues and address hardware concerns.

What is a bug?

Let’s first have a look at what a software issue is to begin with - in our industry, software issues are often called “bugs”.

The term “bug” was first introduced when a malfunction on an early computer was found to have been caused by a moth - a literal bug!

If you have ever used a smartphone before, you will certainly know about bugs already. Bugs are glitches in software that can cause something to go wrong. Some bugs are random and only happen occasionally, others show a pattern: they occur every time a certain action is performed.

Like typos in books, there are always bugs to be found - no software is bug-free. We do our very best to make sure every software update we provide you with fixes as many known bugs as it possibly can. At the same time, we want to prevent the introduction of new bugs - though it can be tricky to predict our software’s interaction with all the apps and accessories that exist.

How do you find and fix bugs?

Information about new bugs can reach us in different ways - through our beta testers, through extensive lab tests, through our repair center, through the Community forum, and of course through our customers (that’s you!).

After being made aware of a bug, we start working towards a solution right away. Thus, resolving bugs is a true team effort: We start by trying to reproduce the issue. This is key in finding the cause and creating a solution. Once we know more about the conditions under which a problem occurs, we can get right to solving it! But that is not always easy, as bugs can be complex.

So we start by asking ourselves some questions: How severe is the impact? How many customers are affected? How difficult will it be to implement a solution? What effects could a potential fix have? All of these questions influence how we address an issue.

As a last step—and to ensure that solutions for both software and hardware issues reach your Fairphone, Fairbuds, or Fairbuds XL—we include bug fixes in our regular software updates and implement necessary hardware adjustments.

Where are we now?

This list provides you with an overview of software issues we are currently aware of and working on. You will find that each bug has a status:

Under investigation

This means we are aware of the issue and are working hard on finding the root cause and a solution in the background.

Fixed and verified

This means we have found the cause and implemented the solution. Now you just need to update your Fairphone! Bugs that have been fixed and verified will be removed from this list after approximately eight weeks, so that we can keep this overview accessible.

Please note that this article does not provide live status updates. Our current update schedule is as follows:
Fairphone 4: Bi-monthly software updates.
Fairphone 5: Monthly software updates.
Fairbuds and Fairbuds XL: No fixed update schedule; updates are released as needed.

You can therefore expect new information for each device according to its specific update frequency.

What if I cannot find my problem on this list?

You think your Fairphone is affected by a software bug, but you cannot find the issue on this list? This may have several reasons:

First of all, this article does not give live status updates. However, it is updated regularly by us, so the issue you are experiencing may be added soon. We try to give you a complete list of bugs known to us, but please note that this list only includes those that are considered of high or medium priority. Lower priority issues that occur less often or have a less severe impact are not listed here for the time being. Medium or high priority bugs occur frequently and/or are more severe - in short: these bugs severely limit the way you can use your Fairphone, whereas lower priority bugs are often cosmetic or only occur in fringe situations. This is done to keep the list manageable, concise, and accessible to you.

It could also be that we were not yet able to confirm that the issue you are experiencing is indeed a software problem. Confirming this first is very important in order to make sure we provide you with the correct solution. For example, it could be that the issue you are experiencing can be resolved with a repair, rather than a software update.

Lastly, maybe the bug has not been reported to us yet. Receiving information from our customers, you, is therefore indispensable for us to detect and resolve issues.

If you need further assistance, want to know more about the status of the issue you are affected by, or if you experience a different problem, please contact our Customer Support.

When will my bug be fixed?

We are not able to give a timeline for when each individual report will be addressed. However, we can assure you that we are continuously working behind the scenes on providing a solution as soon as possible.

At Fairphone, we commit to the longest possible software support, to achieve our ambitious longevity objectives, and show the industry that it can be done!

Most importantly, remember to keep your phone updated with the latest software. Every update contains improvements that might help with your issue. You can find more information in our release notes.

If after reading the article you need more help, contact our Customer Support.