Apple might turn evil? They have always been evil, and goole is evil to. Try a free android distro like CalyxOS, GraphineOS, LineageOS or /e/OS. This is not a complete list.
Any that can run on a Samsung flagship?
Lineage or Calyx should have you covered.
Pixel 6 Pro running GrapheneOS, which I got a couple months ago. Pixel phones are the only ones compatible with GrapheneOS, otherwise I would’ve kept my Samsung phone tbh
Practically same story here. Pixel 7 Pro here, also running Graphene. Switched off my trusty Note9 only because graphene only supports Pixels.
So I know I’m in the minority not really caring all that much about the whole Google ecosystem, I enjoy it and how everything stays connected, I’m not necessarily on a crusade to prevent all data tracking on myself and all of that.
I have a Pixel 6 Pro as well and looks like I’m gonna wait until the 9 pro to upgrade again if possible, my 6 pro is over a year old and still showing no signs of stopping, still plenty of power for everything I need it for and beyond. Is there anything beyond de-googling that GrapheneOS provides? Can I stay google-ified while running it? Just trying to see what kind of benefits it provides other than de-googling
I recently picked up a Fairphone 4. I got it mostly because of the removable battery and easy repairing, but it’s nice to know I’m supporting a manufacturer that cares about sustainability.
Cool, are those the modular ones intended to be able to replace all the different pieces of it?
Yup. Basically every part of the phone is repairable and replaceable. I bought it after I accidentally water damaged my previous phone- an LG V20 that had served me faithfully for almost 6 years. I initially thought I might be able to just replace the display of my V20 because the rest of it works fine, but LG no longer makes phones (and the V20 is an older model), so I didn’t have much option.
Google Pixel 4a with GrapheneOS
nice. +1
FairPhone 4 because it is the only phone with removable battery and LineageOS support.
Google pixel 6a with grapheneOS
Running a Pixel 6 with default OS right now.
Will change to GrapheneOS when it’s no longer supported.
Why did I choose it? Because there’s no real choice besides Android in the phone world. Apple won’t let me install the things I need and is unnecessarily expensive. Plus, the camera is really good.
Problem: even with an alternative operating system, you still don’t get security updates for the baseband firmware, and that thing is a huge remote attack surface that, if compromised, grants the attacker unfettered access to the entire phone.
Some new phones isolate the baseband processor from the rest of the system. Only the small independent phone makers like Librem use such a design, though.
GrapheneOS often picks up security flaws in the android open source project and fixes them before google goes. I won’t claim they fix everything but I’ve seen enough examples of things they fix over AOSP that make me doubt they wouldn’t have fixed something like that (on top of keeping everything updated). Maybe you weren’t referring to Graphene but still worth a shoutout for being a very (the most?) secure operating system.
I’m talking about the baseband, the device that talks to the cell network (among many other functions). It has its own closed-source firmware, no open-source substitute for that firmware exists, and it has full access to the entire system, bypassing the CPU and OS. Installing a different OS will not stop attackers from exploiting vulnerabilities in the baseband firmware and taking over the phone.
Another pixel 6 user here.
I personally chose the Pixel over other Android phones, because Google guarantees 5 years of security updates.
Unlike everyone else, where you’re lucky to get even 3 years of updates.
Fairphone 4.
I don’t play demanding games on my phone, so I don’t need some overpriced flagship device.
What I do need is a consumer-replaceable battery and as many other parts as I can get. This means I can get replacement rear- and front-facing camera, earpiece, loudspeaker, USB port, display, back cover and of course battery. All from the original vendor and replacement can be done by me, armed with only a small screwdriver and maybe a spudger for the display.
Over all this is probably one of the most repairable phones and I bought it hoping it will last me 10 years.I’m currently running Iodé (Android) but hope to switch to PostmarketOS in the future. Maybe with a detour via Ubuntu phone.
I wish they brought it to Canada. I already went with a Framework laptop for reparability and would easily jump at the opportunity to buy a fairphone.
I imported mine from the last visit at home. Had to check if it works with Koodo first, too.
And next laptop will definitely be a Framework.How’s the framework? I’m really interested it in. Any downsides?
Absolutely love it. I had an issue with one of the lights on the keyboard, and they sent a new keyboard, which took maybe a minute to replace. Such a smooth, easy repair process. Any other laptop would have been too inconvenient to fix/return.
It’s not a gaming machine, but you can use an external GPU or wait for the 16" model to come up later this year, which apparently supports a dedicated GPU.
Lots of new options came out since I got mine, including a Chromebook version, AMD versions, etc. When my wife’s laptop dies, I’ll be replacing it with a Framework.
Thanks!
I’d love to get one. I know they are trying to keep everything compatible, but I know one day they’ll need to introduce a v2 to make the chassis slimmer or something, and I feel like I should wait for that.
I know I will get so deep into the ecosystem just for them to release a v2 and not be able to upgrade my components anymore.
I mean it’s just inevitable. There’s no way for them to make progress if they are locked into a very specific form factor forever, and I do think the current framework laptops look straight out of 2008.
I can’t honestly see them making the chassis slimmer, since it would severely restrict upgradability. But I guess it’s possible in the distant future.
But even then, the parts can very easily be repurposed or sold. There are so many new and upcoming projects which use repurposed Framework components to build all sorts of things from desktops PCs to TV media boxes, to gaming consoles, etc.
You could even build your own NAS, surveillance NVR, and more with repurposed parts.
But even if they make a drastic change to the chassis that requires new parts to be purchased, they are very good at giving upgrade paths that make sense and would likely offer options for existing users.
I can tell you that my anxiety over using a device that can’t be repaired is long gone. I actually feel like I can really use this laptop without worrying about being SOL if the screen breaks, or the touchpad stops working.
I am very tempted to buy a fair phone. Unfortunately I do play a lot of demanding stuff on my phone occasionally so right now it’s not the best option for me…
But I’m hopeful for the future. Someday fair phone will be able to get a phone that is more capable. And I’m jump in no regrets.
I am very tempted to buy a fair phone. Unfortunately I do play a lot of demanding stuff on my phone occasionally so right now it’s not the best option for me…
But I’m hopeful for the future. Someday fair phone will be able to get a phone that is more capable. And I’m jump in no regrets.
Pixel running GrapheneOS. Happy to feel like I actually own my own phone now.
🫡🫡
A pixel 7a with graphene OS. It’s a myth that iOS is more secure than android btw. Both are locked down enough to protect against most threats.
Either one protects you from outside threats, but Android does allow you to do more damage on your own.
If you’re smart enough to not install shady apps and give them the rights to absolutely everything, it doesn’t matter which one you use, but if your parents or grandparents are getting up there in age and are prone to just clicking on things that look like they should be clicked on, iOS might be safer for them (Android’s workflow for installing apps from untrusted sources is just too simple IMO).
I’m a dev / data engineer. Often I hear the argument of, “but Android allows you to…”
I don’t want to. Doesn’t matter what the end of the sentence is, I don’t want to. I love tinkering, but not with my phone. :D
Same tbh. I’m a backend dev. I love tinkering. I have a desktop PC to tinker with, if I fuck up my Gentoo install, I’ll just boot into Windows or use my Macbook till I get it fixed. If I fuck up the software on my phone, I won’t be able to take phone calls for probably a couple of hours (if it’s a simple fuckup) to like half a day or more if I manage to fuck up the recovery or something.
Ends up being that you need a secondary phone to tinker with, but I have little use for two phones, so I don’t keep them around much, I’d rather let someone else use my old phones because I don’t usually break them.
CalyxOS on a google pixel.
Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!
Easy installation, just unlock the bootloader and enable adb in settings and plug into a computer and run the installer.
CalyxOS is set it and forget it. It will update itself seamlessly unlike other free Androids and unlike stock Androids. No maintainacnce. Support will likely continue after the manufacturer kills off your device.
Automatic updates and one click installs from f-droid. On calyx its even easier to install free as in freedom apps than it is to install the garbage on Google play.
You can still run your shitty non-free apps from google play (using the aurora store, a free as in freedom app to download google play apps from google play) if someone is forcing you to install their crap.
Does it have the issue that rooted devices sometimes have where certain fast food and banking apps don’t work?
Google Pixel 6a for me, just running the stock ROM/OS. I used to be into trying out custom ROMs but over the years I ended up falling in the “I don’t want my phone to randomly stop working while I’m out and need to make a call” stage.
Plus, I actually enjoy quite a few features from the stock OS such as call screening (which reduces spam calls a ton), direct my call, and whichever feature is the one that provides an estimate on the wait time when calling into a toll free line. There’s also “Hold for me” which I haven’t tried yet but it seems like an interesting idea, but I’d only use it if there were going to be a fairly long wait.
I don’t know if those features work on the custom OS options (as I don’t keep up with that realm anymore), plus potential stability issues which I’ve always had on other devices (including previous Pixels) makes me just stick with the default.
Although, on my Pixel 3a XL since I no longer use it as my daily driver, I slapped Ubuntu Touch on it and it seems interesting, though definitely has a long way to go.
Got a Pixel 4a, which i bought because of the support for custom ROMs. Ran Calyx for a while and now ive been running Graphene for about a year and loving the experience
I’m really intrigued to try it myself. Dismembering the Google ecosystem sounds so good, but I don’t know where to start!
I am a heavy daily user of Calendar, Tasks, Photos and Gmail… How do you start disconnecting and porting yourself from Google?
Honestly its a process. You go one thing at a time, and eventually you’re google free
Pixel 7. I bought it with the intention of flashing it with Graphene OS or something along those lines but I enjoy the Pixel features so much that I’ve left it stock.
I think you should take the plunge, grapheneOS is very easy to install with the web installer https://grapheneos.org/install/web and an overall easy to use and setup os :)
The only reason I haven’t is the Pixel OS specific feature set like being able to use text selection/OCR from the task switcher.
Ohh that is valid. I do miss that feature. Hopefully someday it is brought to AOSP
Apple has always been greedy, in my opinion, but seldom evil.
They are the only major corporation that still makes an effort for privacy (though many people are understandably very skeptical) e.g.
- fully end-to-end-encrypting most of your iCloud data,
- blocking tracking pixels in Mail (not technically correct, but good enough approximation)
- having iCloud Private Relay (something like Tor network) built into Safari
- blocking tracking of your behaviour by anonymising your device
- they even scramble data about your Maps trips, inserting wrong information before they send analytics back to themselves, through what is called differential privacy.
Other reasons I use iOS:
- They offer software updates for >6 years, so I really get great bang for my buck. Total cost of ownership is typically less than other flagship products.
- Integration with their other products.
- General polish, smoothness and ease of use.
I too rely on governments to rein in their greediness (e.g. Right to Repair, having multiple App Stores, etc.)
They offer software updates for >6 years
That was the reason why I migrated to iPhone last year.
I used Android for many years, but I got tired of vendors stopping system updates after 6 months or so of a model being out.
I keep my phone at least 4-5 years, even more if it doesn’t break, and with all the sensitive data and apps we keep on it nowadays (mobile banking, digital identities, authenticators, etc.) it’s not acceptable to stay years without security fixes.
It’s true that apple devices are expensive but it’s enough to not buy the latest models, get a bit older one and you can get it for the same price as a medium-high Android.
